Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and echo his thanks to the presidents, chairs and members of the governing authority, as well as all the staff of Waterford IT and IT Carlow. While we are moving to a new landscape in the south east, that does not in any way take away from the incredible work both institutions have done. In many ways we are trying to build on that success for the new model. I am taken by the Chairman's comments about the speculation, idle comments or loose talk from people. Establishing a university involves a lot of hard work by many people and a huge number of people in the south east are working day and night to make this happen. This is what we have to do according to the law the Oireachtas passed, namely, the Technological Universities Act 2018, which sits on my desk. The amount of work we have to go through is very prescriptive and detailed. The first thing we need to do is get the application in. Then, subject to designation, we appoint a governing authority. We then appoint a president and the governing authority picks the headquarters. There is much granular, difficult work to do. It is not easy sometimes for a Government and, indeed, responsible Opposition Members, to compete with a quick sound bite.

However, if we do this right, we are going to deliver it and do so on time as well.

On the matter of borrowing, we are going to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on that. I take the point about the level playing field and have spoken to THEA about it as well.

The Chairman is entirely right about the STEM subjects, this must be integrated between my Department and the Department of Education and this is something I have discussed with the Minister, Deputy Foley. Some people from DCU were telling me they had done some research on this. When one goes into a school and asks if anyone in a class is interested in science, a few students will of course put up their hands, but if one asks if anyone in the class is interested in coming up with a vaccine or tackling climate action, then more hands go up. That is science; that is research. Therefore, some of this is about how we present the information to our kids at a very young age and indeed how we present the options from a career guidance point of view as well.

I have strong views on leaving certificate reform but I do not want to get into the Minister, Deputy Foley's space. There is an OECD report on it and we can do better as a country but there is no easy option. However, what I can do, working with the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, in the Department is look at how we bring about the CAO reform. This is the single portal I was talking about where young people can see all their options. Other aspects include ensuring we have a career guidance strategy in place and how we create an integrated tertiary system.

On the hospitality sector, I am very conscious of the stress and strain everyone in it is under. The courses we are providing were developed with the Irish Hotels Federation. It was not a case of a Minister or the Government saying "Here are some courses". We actually sat down with hotel owners and asked them what it would be useful for us to do for them so their businesses can prepare to reopen. Similarly, I had a great meeting with the Restaurants Association of Ireland, RAI, as did the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, on how we can help it remove some blockages in the area of apprenticeships, particularly for chefs. Our Department wants to be an enabler. It wants to help enable businesses to get back on their feet post Covid and help enable employees use this time to acquire any skills they may require. We want to help anyone who, during the pandemic, has been wondering what is next for them. That is the job of work we must do and we will do it in collaboration with business owners and the people on the ground, because they know what they need much better than I or any other Minister does.