Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, to the House and wish her well. Although she has been in the House for many debates since she was appointed Minister for Education and Science, this is the first time she has brought legislation to the House. It is important for me to indicate at the outset that Fine Gael will co-operate fully with the Minister's attempts to steer this Bill through the Seanad. I hope nobody will obstruct the quick enactment of the legislation, which is needed to facilitate the speedy development of the DIT's new facilities at Grangegorman.

Everyone in Dublin and throughout the country recognises the important role played by the DIT in various locations in the capital city. It has offered educational services at all levels to many people from all parts of the country. Many generations of students have been familiar with locations like Bolton Street and Kevin Street. It is great that the Government took the wonderful opportunity that was presented to it to purchase the large and centrally located site at Grangegorman. I am sure it is unique for such an enormous site to become available in the centre of a capital city.

All Senators will be keen to pay tribute to the management and staff of the colleges which comprise the DIT. Over the years, such colleges have provided a high quality of education to students even though they may have had to operate in unsuitable conditions. It would be remiss of Members to fail to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the institute's staff. The Minister mentioned that the DIT offers 85 full-time educational programmes and approximately 200 part-time programmes at 40 locations throughout Dublin city. Such figures underline the enormity of the task faced by the management of the DIT over the years. I hope the DIT, which is the biggest educational institution in the country, will continue to grow after it moves to its new campus.

As a member of the Joint Committee on Education and Science, I visited the Grangegorman site last summer. On that occasion, all members of the committee were impressed by the partnership and co-operation between the staff and management of the DIT. We met many people who emphasised the importance of making progress with this legislation. It is great that we are discussing the Bill on Second Stage tonight.

The Minister has indicated that she would like the redevelopment of the Grangegorman site to be handled in a spirit of co-operation, consultation and partnership with the development agency, which will be responsible for developing important education, sporting and recreational facilities. It is welcome that the facilities are being provided in a residential area of the inner city, as the Minister indicated. That it will be possible for local people to use the facilities will be of major benefit to the communities in the Grangegorman area who embraced the redevelopment proposals from the outset. The Minister has said that the relevant authorities will engage in co-operation and consultation with local communities during the construction and development of the college. Those living in the local areas have welcomed the promise that their opinions will be taken on board, rather than disregarded.

I would like to speak about the unique role of the DIT. It has been the State's primary provider of apprenticeships over many years. While I appreciate that many of the institute's students are now learning about science and technology, we should acknowledge that those who completed apprenticeships in the 1960s and 1970s laid the foundation for this country's boom in manufacturing industry. Such models of learning paved the way for the new technologies of the current era. The important people, many of whom are long since gone, who developed the initial programmes of study at the DIT should be remembered with admiration and given credit for the innovative work they did during that period. At the other end of the spectrum, many people have emerged from the DIT with doctorates and master's degrees in all kinds of subject areas.

The Minister mentioned that the DIT offers some 85 full-time educational programmes across the full range of the activity in which the people of this State are engaged. I refer to the food, technology and manufacturing sectors, for example. The Minister indicated her willingness to take on board and co-operate with the industry so that the campus will be a centre of research and development for industries which will continue to support the DIT, as they have in the past. We must recognise how difficult it would have been for industries to liaise with the scattered nature of many of these colleges and buildings, which would have been an unfavourable location for research and development and any innovative research that industry would wish to take place.

I welcome the fact that on Committee Stage in the Dáil the Minister changed the membership of the agency to include members of staff of the DIT, or representatives of the DIT, other than just the appointment of an appointee of the president of the college, as was intended initially. It was remiss to have excluded such representatives in the first instance. It is important that the agency should include as many representative groups as possible. The fact that the Minister included local community representatives is a forward step. This will bring about greater commitment to the advancement and success of the college as already expressed by the local community.

It appears to be a new phenomenon that from the beginning, the agency will have responsibility for the development of the site. Under the guidance and direction of the Minister for Education and Science, it will continue to have responsibility for policy developments, financing, resourcing, staffing and so on. How will this gel with the day-to-day management of the college? I would appreciate her views on this aspect.

The roots of the DIT go back to 1887. The Minister said that the history of this project goes back to 1999. The fact that the first focus of attention for the DIT when the constituent colleges came together was the old Collins Barracks was a blessing in disguise. Luckily for the DIT, that was allocated to the National Museum for its development. I do not think it would have been as suitable a site as Grangegorman. An agency such as this to run what we hope will be the biggest educational institution in the country could be the first step in re-organising other areas of third level education which would be given equal treatment. Members will be aware that there is a perception at present that colleges will have to compete for funding. I am not sure this would be a good idea given that all the constituent parts of the DIT must come together under one umbrella agency. This is a forward looking step, which might be contemplated in regard to future funding for other third level institutions as a group or as singular institutions.

Another aspect relates to funding. The agency has responsibility for acquiring and disposing of property. I presume the Minister is referring to existing property the DIT is currently working from, whether leased or rented. The estimated part funding for this is quoted as being in the region of €250 million. Despite departmental and Government provision, there will be a shortfall of approximately €200 million if the overall costing is in the region of €900 million. It is important to know whether this project will be carried out under a PPP scheme, because people might draw parallels between the difficulties that arose in the recent past in regard to the Cork School of Music. Everything was in place in that regard, but suddenly the plug was pulled and everything went into disarray and delay. The most important aspects in regard to this legislation is that everything should progress full steam ahead and nothing should interfere with the progress of the legislation and the commitment given by the Government to progress this important institution.

I welcome the legislation. We will wholeheartedly co-operate with its speedy passage through this House. We look forward to the completion of the project, as do many students who are not yet thinking of third level education. Many people will benefit from education in the new DIT, Grangegorman.