Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 6: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for designating Waterford Institute of Technology as a university in view of the aftermath of the loss of 400 plus jobs in the TalkTalk telecommunications company in Waterford; his views on this as an essential component in order to attract employment to the Southeast. [25112/11]

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to establish a technological university in the south east; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25208/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 16 together.

The National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 lays out a clear development pathway for amalgamated institutes of technology which meet specified performance criteria to seek redesignation as technological universities. I have asked the Higher Education Authority for its formal advice on draft performance criteria, and the authority is currently engaged in a consultation process. I expect to be in a position to publish the criteria before the end of December. As I said earlier to the Deputy, I hope to do that this side of Christmas. Once a process is in place, it will be open to institutes of technology to come together to make applications for consideration for redesignation. All applications will be considered under an independent assessment process.

Waterford Institute of Technology has an excellent reputation for industry collaboration and for its highly skilled graduates. It has strong links with the TalkTalk workforce and is actively working with the other education and training providers and agencies in the region to support those who are losing their jobs.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Waterford city is the only gateway city that does not have a university. I listened to the Minister's point about the consultation process. Would he not accept that there has been a lack of urgency in this regard in the past? Other Ministers have considered this previously. I agree with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, that this is not the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to solving the problems facing Waterford, but it would be a step in the right direction.

The Government is talking about the possibility of a technological university for Waterford. What does that mean? Would it be on a par with other universities in the State? Would it put Waterford and the south east into the top tier of university provision? Would a technological university have the finance, autonomy and branding of a fully fledged university? There is a credibility gap because the process has taken so long.

The Minister mentioned that the institute has links with TalkTalk. There is also an issue to do with the fact that money was not obtained from the European globalisation adjustment fund. People are angry and upset about the fact that we will not be using this resource. We should look again at this. The general consensus across the political spectrum seems to be that we need to move forward urgently in terms of university status for Waterford Institute of Technology.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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If I may respond to the second part of the Deputy's question, most people would agree that the way in which FÁS, soon to be changed to SOLAS, handled the globalisation adjustment fund was not acceptable. As the Deputy probably heard on the radio, there was a breakdown in communication which meant that front-line staff meeting unemployed workers had not been informed about this opportunity. That is to be deplored. As the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, mentioned, that is one of the reasons we are completely dismantling FÁS and introducing SOLAS. The requirement for access to the globalisation fund is that there must have been more than 500 redundancies within a given period of time in a certain area, and I am not sure what is happening on that front. It is a matter for the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, and his Department.

With regard to the issue of the designation of universities, this is now part of the global world of standards. We have asked Professor Simon Marginson, an Australian academic who is familiar with the Irish third level sector, to consider the criteria that should be essential for a technological university. The designation will mean that a university's primary focus is in the application of technology to industry. The criteria will be clearly set out. The draft criteria were submitted by Professor Marginson earlier this year. They are now being worked on by the HEA and I hope to have them this side of Christmas.