Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I just have a couple of observations. On the roll-out of the TUs across the country, there will be Limerick-Athlone and we have spoken at length about the south east.

As the Minister, Deputy Harris, stated, the whole principle is to have a network and a multi-campus approach whereby every county within the region subsets has a presence. It is not helpful to have a bun fight going on in one part of the country with regard to where the corporate headquarters will be located. There will be a headquarters in every part of the region being served by virtue of the presence to which I have referred. That is what is important. The location in which the president in question sits and has his or her corporate team is actually irrelevant. It is about the students, engagement with the region and embedding it into the region. When I am asked in Limerick and elsewhere in the mid west about where the headquarters for the Limerick-Athlone project will be located, I say that is a matter exactly for the incoming president and the board. It is really a secondary matter.

On the issue of hospitality and tourism, as members are aware, the Minister, Deputy Harris, and I launched an initiative last week. It was made possible by virtue of collaboration with the industry representative organisations, but also the regional skills forums. The people working and engaging in hospitality and tourism have told us that they wish to skill up their critical and key employees in order to retain them in their employment in the sector such that when the country eventually opens up again and the economy gets running, those people will be there and will not have to be replaced by others who would have to be retrained or upskilled into those particular situations.

The Chairman asked about leaving certificate reform. It is my personal view that there has to be reform of the leaving certificate. All present have been through the leaving certificate process in their lives and education. Having so much riding on one written exam is very onerous. It can be a daunting task for many people. The whole country will, ultimately, move away from that process. The Minister, Deputy Harris, referred to reform of the CAO. We have not mentioned the reform of SUSI, which is a project that is also being undertaken by the Department. We can revert to the committee in that regard at another time.