Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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It is still on our agenda. The correspondence has been issued and it is an item to which we will return. We will note and publish that documentation.

The next item is correspondence No. 1201C from Dr. Barry O'Connor, president of Cork Institute of Technology, dated 23 March 2018, relating to the mergers of technological universities. Dr. O'Connor provides a breakdown of consultancy and legal fees and copies of minutes from board meetings where key decisions were made relating to the merger with Institute of Technology Tralee. An explanation for the higher costs and effects on student services is provided. Can we note and publish this documentation? I think people were surprised at the scale of expenditure relating to the proposed technological university in Munster as a result of the merger of Cork Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology Tralee.

The cost incurred to date is €571,000 on professional fees, while the cost incurred by the Dublin Institute of Technology, IT Tallaght and IT Blanchardstown is €344,000 and the cost incurred in the south east by Waterford IT and IT Carlow is €49,000.