Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I will stay with the TUs, which we need to function as research institutions. The Minister will not be blindsided by the following question because I have put it to him previously. I feel, as do the institutions, that there is a need to develop a professorship model so that we encourage that research facility. These institutions can be huge engines for research in each of their regions. We also need a review of academic contracts. We know that the balance of the contracts previously on offer in the institutes of technology was in favour of teaching. The teaching burden is such that it is difficult to meaningfully integrate research into such a role. What are the Minister's thoughts about where the State ought to go to restructure what the TUs, as institutes of technology, do so we can encourage that research capacity?