Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The issue dates back to the Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 whereby the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, was allowed to describe itself as a university of medicine and health sciences as a subtitle. As the designation can only used outside the State, the college has encountered difficulties which the Technological Universities Bill offers us a convenient opportunity to address. I wish to make the case for a change to allow the college to use the designation. Strict criteria and a statutory approach are in place to allow it to use it outside the State. The college is a charitable body. It is a not-for-profit body, not a private institution. In fact, it was founded under statute. It is regulated by various regulatory bodies such as the Charities Regulator; Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI; the HSE and various medical regulatory bodies. The college's current situation in law is unsustainable and the position needs to be change urgently. I do not believe the change would have implications for other institutions. It is a totally separate issue for the college which is already allowed to use the designation of university but only outside the State. I wish to make a strong case for the proposed change.