Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, and I thank the Deputy for raising it.

The Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes was established to examine the current expenditure programmes in each Department and to make recommendations for reducing public service numbers to ensure a return to sustainable public finances. The report contains a wide range of recommendations, which cut across all Departments. It notes that Tipperary Institute is located near two other institutes of technology and has a high complement of staff compared to the number of full-time students. The group recommends that the institute be closed with existing students reassigned to nearby institutes of technology. The report, and its specific recommendations, are being considered by the Department in the context of achieving the required reductions in public service numbers and Exchequer expenditure.

In addition, the Deputy will be aware that the process to develop a new national strategy for higher education is under way and it affords a timely opportunity to review the environment for higher education and the challenges and changes impacting on the sector. The process, which is being led by a high level strategy group, will set out the blueprint for the development of the sector over the next two decades. It will examine how well Ireland's higher education system is performing, how it ranks internationally, how well existing resources are being used and how the system can be reconfigured to best meet the many challenges it faces over the next decade having regard to the key role it has to play in contributing to Ireland's economic recovery.

The objective of this strategy process is to develop a vision and related set of national policy objectives for Irish higher education for the next 20 years with more focused targets for the sector for the next five years. The strategy group is critically examining the roles and relationships of higher education institutions in order that the system can deliver the levels of efficiency, performance, innovation and growth that will optimise Ireland's "smart" economic recovery and social development. The process is also looking at the effectiveness of the use of current resources, the potential to maximise the use of those resources and identify how additional resource requirements across the sector can be met, having particular regard to the difficult budgetary and economic climate in prospect in the medium term.

As the Deputy will appreciate, in the current economic climate all areas of Exchequer funding are being examined to provide value for money and best practices across the public sector. In this regard the Deputy will be aware of the significant Exchequer funding which Tipperary Institute receives from the Department, which amounted to €10 million in each of the past two years with the main elements of this funding being used to meet the cost of staff salaries and associated day-to-day running costs of the institute.

Given the relatively low number of students there is an issue as to whether Tipperary Institute, as it operates currently, is sustainable on a stand-alone basis. The Minister understands the institute is in dialogue with other higher education institutions on possible collaborative arrangements and he believes that this is the appropriate way forward for the institute. However, it will be necessary, as part of any new initiatives, that staffing and funding ratios in the institute be brought into line with sector norms. The Minister is confident progress can be made quickly on identifying and agreeing a new model that will place the institute on a sustainable path going forward. I thank the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to respond to the House on this matter.

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