Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and Minister of State to the committee and thank them for coming before it. This is a very important, albeit brief, encounter on the establishment of the technological university in Munster, which I am delighted to see. I have a personal interest in the south east, so I look forward to that happening in due course as well.

My question is broader, I am sure the Minister will appreciate, than the establishment of the technological university in Munster, but it relates to admissions and college places next year. We all really appreciate how promptly the Department responded with additional spaces, particularly after the calculated grades issue was identified and rectified. The Department certainly responded promptly. Next year, we will potentially have another problem brewing because of the additional numbers that had to be created in this academic year. Is there a commitment to make sure these places are available next year? My next query is kind of set out in the Minister's long statement on the establishment of the other technological universities and perhaps I will leave it and ask for a response to my first question.