Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish Mr. Malone the best. I was impressed with his presentation. He is clearly well qualified for the position and, like previous speakers, I acknowledge a regional view was taken and a cross-Border view was also taken, which is important and welcome given the location of DkIT. He identified that there is a less than optimal number of students crossing the Border from the North to study in DkIT. Can he elaborate on that? Are there any plans to address that? A number of issues with the DkIT have come to our attention. I appreciate Mr. Malone is the chairperson designate and not the president but there are two issues I want to address.

One is the balloting for industrial action in DkIT in recent times. Can Mr. Malone offer any observation on whether there is progress on that issue and if positions of the union representatives and the management of DkIT are coming closer together? The transition to a technological university is also going to be a key issue for DkIT. Many other institutions have already made applications. It is going to be a big change for them. From the perspective of DkIT, how far along is the process? How does Mr. Malone intend to support DkIT and encourage that process along?