Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this issue. As he will be aware, the tourism college in Killybegs is a school of Letterkenny Institute of Technology, LYIT, which is an autonomous statutory body. The management of the college is the responsibility of the governing body and the president of LYIT. The Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority, HEA, for direct disbursement to HEA institutions including LYIT. The HEA allocates this grant to institutions for free fees, core grant funding and other specific earmarked initiatives. The HEA uses a recurrent grant allocation model to determine the amount of core funding provided to each institution. It is then a matter for the institution to determine how this funding is allocated internally and locally.

All higher education institutions are facing real challenges to cope with declining State budgets and increasing student populations. Institutions must reduce staff numbers in line with the employment control framework for the sector. Core staff numbers in higher education institutions were reduced by 9% between December 2008 and December 2011. Overall full-time student numbers increased by 12% during the same period. Staff numbers had reduced by a further 1.5% at the end of 2012. Further reductions will be required. It is a matter for each institution to work within a balanced budget and to achieve best value for money. The HEA has committed to working with institutions that face particular financial pressures in the coming year. The need for an agreed strategy to ensure they can continue to meet the needs of students, employers and other stakeholders in their regions is of paramount importance.

I understand the HEA has requested a financial plan from LYIT covering the next three years, indicating the strategy to be used to address financial issues at the institute. This plan has not yet been received by the Department. There has been no indication of any specific proposals concerning the future of the Killybegs campus. The HEA is undertaking a study on the sustainability of the current funding system for higher education. An initial report has been published. This report makes it clear that immediate work is required to prepare for a longer-term approach to a system that can be maintained through a sustainable funding base. Such a system should be able to address the continued expansion of the sector while protecting quality of education. The HEA is continuing its work in this area. It will advise the Department further as this work progresses. The report will help inform decision-making on the future funding of the sector.

The Deputy will be familiar with a document, Towards a Future Higher Education Landscape, that was published by the HEA last year after inviting submissions from institutions and commissioning expert analyses with a view to giving the Minister formal advice on an outline future configuration of the higher education system. That advice is under consideration. The HEA has advised on the development of regional clusters of higher education institutions which will allow programmes of teaching and learning to be better planned and co-ordinated, resources to be used more efficiently and more flexible student pathways and better progression opportunities to be put in place. Regional clusters will build on the explicit value placed on collaboration between Irish higher education institutions in recent years. They will create more stable and permanent arrangements between institutions within regions. Negotiated agreements between institutions within a cluster will allow for the elimination of unnecessary duplication of provision and provide a more coherent offering to students in the region with good pathways into and between institutions.

See this speech in context