Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

While I sympathise with the Deputy, I assure him that the case he has made for Tallaght has been made for every other third level institution. Every one has some ten different priorities. The Deputy will appreciate, given the limited resources available, that it can never be easy to make decisions in this area. For that reason, I decided to try to bring some order to the third level sector. Between 1997 and 2003, the capital expenditure in the third level sector was almost €1 billion. Despite the fact that the review was ongoing in 2003, expenditure in that year amounted to over €69 million. A further €97.5 million has been allocated for 2004 in addition to the €25 million capital funding for the programme of research in third level institutions.

While expenditure is ongoing, all third level colleges have what they regard as absolutely pressing needs which should be addressed outside the context of the review. If one moves outside that context, one will be back in the scenario we were in when I commissioned the review.

Regarding the timing of the review, I was initially told the review would be completed by 31 October 2003. I was subsequently told it would be completed by March 2004 and I have now been told it will be ready next month. While I would like to see it completed as quickly as possible, it is more important to get it right than to get it quickly. I hope when I get it, I will get it right.

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