Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My party leader raised the financing of institutes of technology, but there is a bigger issue as well. There is no plan or vision from the Government for the third level sector. The Action Plan for Education was published some months ago and it contains only two lines about third level funding. There were a further two lines in the budget stating that a funding plan for third level education would be put in place. Part of the ranking assessments take account of the reputational issues of universities. Another matter that is taken into account is whether there is a sense that the Government has a vision for third level education and provides support for it. The perception abroad is that the Government has no interest whatsoever in the third level sector. We had to fight hard to get the little amount of funding the Government has granted to it. The Government must get a grip and draft a vision and a plan, because there is nothing in the Action Plan for Education and it affects the future of the country.

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