Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

In February 2006 Waterford Institute of Technology made a formal application to the Department of Education and Science in pursuit of university status. The submission embraces constituent campuses throughout the south east. There was an expectation by the institute at the time that a body of national and international education experts would be set up to adjudicate the merits of the institute's case and then report to the Higher Education Authority.

More than three years later, I tabled a parliamentary question last Tuesday, asking the Minister for Education and Science to request the Higher Education Authority to recommend, as provided for under section 9.1 of the Universities Act 1997, the membership of a body to include international experts and national experts for appointment by the Government. This body would advise the Higher Education Authority whether Waterford Institute of Technology should be established as the university of the south east.

The Minister's reply was clear. He stated there are no plans to advance any of the current applications for university status before the strategy group on higher education reports. The Minister has asked the group to report to him with a two-decade roadmap for the development of the sector.

The Minister has asked the group to report to him with a two decade road map for the development of the sector before the end of the year. There is no guarantee that it will report on time and if previous adherence to timeframes around the Waterford Institute of Technology application is repeated, it could be quite some time before the report is produced.

The Minister stated that applications have been received for designation as universities from Waterford Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute of Technology and Cork Institute of Technology. Dublin already has three universities and Cork has one. In addition to universities, Limerick and Galway have institutes of technology. Waterford and the south-east region are alone in not having a university. When we compare the five major cities in terms of spending on third level education, Dublin's spend is more than 11 times that of Waterford, Cork spends almost four times as much and Galway and Limerick have three times Waterford's spend.

One tactic used by Fianna Fáil to delay commencing the statutory process of assessment for the WIT application announced by the then Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, in advance of the 2007 general election was that a preliminary assessment of the submission would be made by Dr. Jim Port, a UK-based independent consultant. This was a ploy to get Fianna Fáil through the election by giving the impression that something real was happening on the application. Dr. Port's report was finally published in February 2008. In it, he described the Waterford Institute of Technology application as a serious one that raised a number of issues for the Government but contained nothing inherent to prevent its consideration under the existing process. Dr. Port found that WIT has an academic maturity and activity profile in degree and postgraduate training, research and scholarly activity which overlaps with institutions in the Irish university sector and other western countries. He felt that WIT fulfils many of the broader roles of the university, especially in terms of supporting the regional economy and cultural development and knowledge transfer.

There is a brain drain from the south east, with some 7,000 students at any given time studying in universities outside the region. Many of these will never return to live in the region. There is a regional deficit in fourth level education provision and under capacity in research and development. If the south-east region is to be part of Ireland's smart economy, it must have a university.

I am demanding that the statutory process on the WIT application be initiated immediately. This will not cost a great deal of money or impinge on the work of the strategy group. I call on the Government to end its cynicism and evasion and the dishonest ploys which have been repeatedly to avoid progressing the application by WIT for university status.

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