Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity to make a few points on third level education rather than the Fottrell report.

I agree with Senator McHugh about the points system. When I was doing my leaving certificate, points were very high for medicine. At that time, contemporaries of mine who achieved maximum points automatically entered medical school. It was not because they had a gift or were particularly suited to the profession, but because peer or family pressure and the points system dictated they do medicine. The net result was that those more suited to life in a library were studying to be surgeons while those working in a library should have been studying surgery.

There is an ongoing review of the senior cycle and the syllabi at leaving certificate level. That is necessary because it should place a greater focus on a child's strengths and work with the child to ensure he or she plays to them. It should not be about getting 100% in an exam.

Tip O'Neill said all politics is local and I will use this opportunity to speak about the institute of technology in Sligo and the ITs in general. It is some time since we have heard about the Bill to amend the Regional Technical Colleges (Amendment) Act that will place institutes of technology under the auspices of the Higher Education Authority. Why has the legislation not progressed? It would give the institutes of technology in Sligo and Letterkenny the greater autonomy they require if they are to perform to their potential, facilitate the development of institutions similar to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and allow the institutes of technology to respond to the many changing needs of business. I ask that the Bill's progress through the House be accelerated.

On funding for science and technology, Sligo is grateful for the investment it has been allocated to refurbish existing facilities. However, despite having bucked the national trend by increasing the number of science students, both school leavers and adults, the Sligo Institute of Technology has not received additional funding to accommodate the extra numbers. I appeal for further funding for this purpose.

On the Order of Business I called on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, to develop a strategy for the north west. Traditional manufacturing in the region is in freefall, with a number of high profile closures in recent months and many more in recent years. While I do not wish to distract from the bad news in Ballivor, my focus is on the north west which has experienced many more job losses per capita in recent times than other areas.

Significant additional investment must be made through the core budgets of the institutes of technology in applied research and technology transfer. The Minister of State may be surprised to learn that the Sligo Institute of Technology received only 2% of Science Foundation Ireland funding this year and just 6% of funding allocated under the programme for research and third level investment, PRTLI. If we are serious about tackling problems in the traditional manufacturing sector, we will need to invest substantially more in applied research and technology transfer in the institutes of technology. With proper investment the Sligo and Letterkenny institutes of technology could be developed into centres of excellence in this field.