Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I am taking the Adjournment debate because the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, cannot attend the House this evening. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment.

As the Deputy is aware, the Cork School of Music represents a constituent part of the Cork Institute of Technology, CIT. As institutes of technology are autonomous institutions, the Department of Education and Science has no role in their operational affairs. The institutes of technology receive a block grant from the Higher Education Authority and it is a matter for each institution to determine how it is allocated internally. In the case of the Cork School of Music, the Cork Institute of Technology will determine the level of funding to be allocated to the school.

I am aware of the annual demands for additional resources for the higher education sector and have afforded significant priority to investments in this area. Spending on higher education has increased dramatically in the past decade. When all higher education funding is taken into account, the overall provision by the Department of Education and Science for the sector amounts to approximately €2 billion for 2008. That is an increase of approximately 25% since 2005, when the provision amounted to €1.6 billion, and an increase of approximately 135% on the €850 million provided in 1997.

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