Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will reply first to Deputy Wallace before addressing the questions asked by Deputy McConalogue. The Deputy confirms my comment on the distortion that certain types of indices can give to the overall outcome of a ranking. Investment in research, the level of peer review of papers and reputation are all used as indices. However, the assessment may be carried out by people who have never been to Ireland. They may, therefore, base their reputational assessment on an image they have of the country and its universities. There is evidence to suggest that when the onset of the economic crisis in 2009-10 had a significant adverse effect on the reputation and perception of Irish universities, notwithstanding that there had been little or no significant shift in resource allocation or the student-teacher ratio. In the first instance, the ratings should indicate what is the quality of education for our pupils and students, while also conveying a message to the rest of the world about the quality of our education system. They are, however, designed to serve slightly different functions and address slightly different audiences.

As regards the configuration of the third level sector, we have seven universities, including the Dublin Institute of Technology, 14 institutes of technology and an array of other third level institutions, including some private institutions which avail of the CAO form for allocation and admission purposes. The more modern landscape of these 33 institutions is almost 40 years old when one considers the establishment of the regional technical colleges in the 1970s and early 1980s and, more recently, the establishment of the University of Limerick and Dublin City University. Information, transportation, communications and mobility have been transformed in the past ten or 20 years. We found, for example, that 19 institutions were delivering more than 40 courses for initial teacher training for primary and secondary school teachers. A recommendation has been made to reduce this number to a much more manageable and efficient group of six institutions. This arrangement will involve collaboration and co-operation between different institutions. We could do something similar with third level institutions.

That is why the HEA invited the institutions to indicate by the end of June in which direction they were going, where they saw themselves and the level of collaboration with other third level institutions in their regions. I am awaiting a report on this.

The HEA set out four clear steps that any institution that aspires to become a technological university must take. I outlined these steps in reply to an earlier question. The final decision on whether an institute becomes a new technological university will be made by an international panel of experts using objective criteria on the standard of academic competence the institute has achieved. It will not be a political decision made by myself or any future education Minister.

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