Mr. Fintan Moloney:

A Chathaoirleach agus Baill Choiste an Oireachtas, gabhhaim buiochas libh as an deis seo a thabhairt dom labhairt libh inniu. I thank the Chairman and committee members for giving me the opportunity to address them. I have provided a summary of my career to date, with particular reference to the five years to 30 September 2018, during which I acted as chairperson of the governing body of Letterkenny Institute of Technology which is known as LYIT. I have been involved in the financial sphere since graduating from UCD in 1974 with a degree in economics. Having spent 16 years with the Revenue Commissioners, the last of which was as district inspector of taxes for County Donegal, in 1989 I commenced a taxation and financial consultancy business which continues to this day. I remind the committee that the Revenue Commissioners have given me eight more days to get in all of the tax returns, given that the deadline date is 14 November. Working with my 65 colleagues in Revenue's office gave me great experience of people management and highlighted the importance of leadership attributes such as empathy, time management, the art of listening, judgment evaluation and decisive decision-making.

Having been distant from the education sector for a considerable time, my appointment to the challenging position of LYIT chairperson required a considerable learning curve at a time when the country was in the throes of recession and funding for education or anything else was hardly extant. However, my prior financial experience stood to me in those difficult years when the college's reserves were dissipating rapidly and a red line in the sand had to be grappled with. The reality at the time was that our institute, which is based on campuses in Letterkenny and Killybegs, was going to run out of money in the short term. Reserves are never limitless. Thankfully, matters have improved and funding has become available, particularly for the Killybegs campus, for which some €3 million has been approved, to be drawn down over four years. LYIT is the first institute to come out of deficit following the crash. Growth in student numbers has also had a positive impact on our financial viability. In the past five years total student numbers have grown by 24%, from 3,493 to 4,316, with the part-time cohort showing a significant increase of 94%, from 626 to 1,215 today. The non-EU international student numbers have grown from one five years ago to 135 today. They come mainly from India, Malaysia and China, among other places.

LYIT has many exciting projects in the pipeline, including a €20 million public private partnership project which is to commence in 2020. Submissions have been made under the rural regeneration fund to the Department of Rural and Community Development for an ocean innovation centre in Killybegs, while a joint application involving LYIT, Donegal ETB, Donegal County Council and Údarás has been made to the climate action fund. An application involving LYIT, the University of Ulster and Queens University has also been made under the INTERREG programme for a share of the €30 million available.

Our greatest challenge in the short term is achieving technological university status in partnership with Sligo Institute of Technology and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT. Last month funding of €1.8 million was secured to progress the application of the Connacht-Ulster Alliance, CUA. Work is ongoing to satisfy the criteria set out in Chapter 9 of the Technological Universities Act 2018, under section 28(1)(a) of which, LYIT already satisfies the 30% test, with a figure of 51% confirmed. Work is continuing in assessing the current position on the criteria set out in section 28(1)(b) and (c) and a report will be concluded by the CUA project manager by the end of November.

Our collaboration north of the Border continues. Last April the then Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, announced the establishment of a cross-Border further and higher education cluster involving LYIT, the Ulster University, the North West Regional College and Donegal ETB. The initiative has recently secured funding from the Higher Education Authority to enhance its activity and continue its work in the context of implementation of the national development plan.

This year the institute has come through an institutional review carried out by Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI. It involved QQI personnel meeting staff, students, governing body members and external shareholders from industry and other spheres of public life. QQI is processing our application for approval of a level 10 course in computing and success is anticipated by the end of the year. A similar application will be made in 2019 for the school of business, which will obviously have an impact in meeting the criteria to achieve TU status.

I acknowledge the dedication and fortitude of all LYIT staff, together with governing body members and sub-committees, in pursuing the best interests of the college during its very difficult recent history.