Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I acknowledge that we have met on this issue and I look forward to doing so again. There has been an almost 40% growth in the university sector over a 20-year period. Much of that was financed by the European Investment Bank, EIB, to the national universities, funding of which the institutes of technology cannot avail. The Minister mentioned capital structures to be built in Waterford. These are PPPs that have been bundled into a later phase in 2021 and will probably not be delivered before 2024 or 2025. I cannot see any fairness in that when other PPPs were expedited to be done before the end of this year. That is the point I am making. I am looking at a lot of allocations and I cannot observe a method or process by which I can see transparency or understanding of how capital is allocated. To be frank, there is a fair degree of political patronage in it.

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