Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

There was a very misleading headline in a piece in The Irish Times earlier this week. No decision has been made on a technological university in the south east or anywhere else. In my formal reply I gave the Deputy the facts as they currently are. Once the criteria are published, it will then be up to institutions to decide whether they wish to collaborate with other institutions and pursue the possibility of achieving technological university status. I am advised by the education authorities that such a process will take some years, and will be determined by meeting the criteria established independently and not by any political decision.

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