Dr. Alan Wall:

I do not think we have failed. It is too early to say that we have failed. The report to which the Deputy has referred is an interim report. We are half way through the process. We have engaged with GMIT. We will engage with GMIT throughout the summer to see what we can do next to speed things up. However, it is important to note that we are just slightly over halfway through a process. We are three out of five years into it. Other things have impacted on it.

It is also worth considering that the Connacht-Ulster Alliance process will have an impact here. As I mentioned earlier, there are three campuses in that alliance. The Letterfrack and the Killybegs campuses are part of it. Having facilitated the GMIT report, our board has asked that we engage in discussion with the Department on the broader policy issues around remote campuses.

I accept that progress is slow and it is not what we would have liked. I do not accept that it is a failure yet. We need to keep plugging away at it and we will. We have gone through the report. We are anxious to engage with GMIT on it in the next few weeks. That is where it is at.