Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry that Deputy Browne is not hearing anything because I am hearing a lot. As the Deputy stated, the combined profile of the two south east institutes of technology is more than 15,000 students and some 2,000 staff. Progress has been made. I was very disappointed that the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, branch members of IT Carlow voted in June to reject the agreement reached with other TUI colleagues at the Workplace Relations Commission on the technological university of south east Ireland.

I am aware that it is the nature of major changes such as the technological university process that industrial relations issues will arise.

I am hopeful that in the first instance Institute of Technology, Carlow and the TUI will work to resolve these issues through normal industrial relations processes. I did just tell the Deputy a few minutes ago that a substantial amount of money was launched, as it were, last week. A total of €90 million is absolutely ring-fenced for the development of technological universities. The Government has put money towards what we want to happen in the various consortia.

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