James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. The whole concept of a technological university was - as I understand it - driven by the need for a university for the south east, which has none. It has now fallen significantly behind other regions that already have universities and that now see their applications for technological universities significantly advanced over the south east. This is causing a significant brain drain in the south east. We now have very high populations of younger and older people. Members of the in-between generation of qualified people who have third level degrees are not to be found in the south east. They are leaving to get their education and they are not coming back. More people leave the south east to get their third level education than are getting it in the region and this is having a very real impact on people. It is not just about convenience and costs - they have to travel further to get the education and it makes it more difficult to get that third level education - it also impacts attracting employment to the south east. Foreign direct investment and major international companies do not want to set up in regions where there is no university because their employees cannot get the necessary training with the accredited universities and they have to bring them there. This leads to lower job quality and a greater impact on socioeconomics. The region has the highest unemployment rate of any region and this is a direct link to the lack of a university but I am not hearing anything about driving on a university in the south east.

See this speech in context