Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

As Senator Henry reminded us, Grangegorman was a byword for what was most depressing in the city of Dublin. The project now before us is an enormously exciting initiative. I presume the figure of €900 million is a gross one as I assume the existing sites all have a value which will contribute considerably to reducing the net cost. The project will help deal with the deprived area of the inner city and will be part of the revival which is already under way in places like Smithfield.

In her comprehensive speech, the Minister detailed in so many different areas courses which the DIT was running on its own or with another third level institute. I was interested in but will not dwell on what the Minister said the DIT was doing in the conservatoire area of music, which has a somewhat chequered history. During the debates on that, the DIT made clear what it was doing. The DIT has probably the best employment record of any third level institution in the country.

When the RTCs were upgraded to institutes of technology, that put a certain squeeze on the DIT and the Waterford Institute of Technology. I will declare my interests at this stage. I have a family member on the staff of the DIT and I am a member of the foundation of the WIT.

I will say a little about the university issue and illustrate it by an anecdote. A German bank recently advertised what they are calling the William Rowan Hamilton prizes. This year is the bicentenary of that scientist's birth. The prizes, of which there are several, are for excellence in maths, and I understand they are administered by the Royal Irish Academy. The prizes are for people in their penultimate year of study, but maths graduates from the DIT are not eligible to compete. There is a lot of hidden educational snobbery about, which I regard as an absolute scandal. It is because of this hidden form of discrimination that third level institutions like the WIT and the DIT want university status.

The Leader will recall that in 1989, when she and the Taoiseach of the day, Charles Haughey, were contemplating giving university status to the college in Limerick and to DCU, there was a great deal of resistance. Words were spoken into people's ears.