Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

All of them now enjoy startling success in fourth level education. I often wonder whether Ireland would have achieved the dominance it has in many areas of commerce if not for the institutes of technology.

It was I who formulated the earlier legislation in 1991. It had just been printed when I left the Department and it was for my successor to manage its progress. This legislation was important because it afforded freedom to the colleges to engage in research and development according to their needs. Before this they had an umbilical connection to the VECs, which saw them as shining stars in the context of their own sphere of responsibility.

This Bill builds upon that earlier legislation while, essentially, continuing to recognise the binary system that operates in the education sector. A ridiculous situation has arisen in Britain where every jumped-up polytechnical college became a university. I could not believe the authorities there were so stupid. Why did they not have pride in their own structures and in the roles performed by the different educational institutions? I never heard the management of Athlone Institute of Technology expressing a desire for it to become a university. It was satisfied with and proud of its role as an excellent regional technical college and, later, institute of technology.

I do not understand why the management of an educational institution should feel that university status is necessary if the facility is to be considered important. The existence of an institute of technology is of great importance to any town. In Athlone, for example, this is evident in the location of Elan, Nexans and other industries there. Industries feed off the institutes and vice versa. The institutes are empowered by the scholarships, trusts and other forms of financing and support they receive from local industry, as the provisions of the earlier legislation enabled them to do. The existence of an institute of technology gives a great boost to an area. Athlone was the first college to offer a course in plastics, an unknown technology at the time it was introduced. We were foremost in that field.

This Bill is excellent because it preserves the binary system without any sense of tuppence-half-penny looking down on tuppence. I never heard anything so silly. There should be a sense of confidence in one's institute. Not every educational facility is a university, nor is every facility an institute of technology with its wealth of ideas and people. Many of the institutes are now branching out and attracting students from abroad. In Athlone, Dr. Ciarán Ó Catháin has travelled extensively and has brought students from China and elsewhere to the college. These students bring a cosmopolitan air to the town and we have seen the establishment of China-Athlone and India-Athlone friendship societies. This expansion is positive.

I am pleased to support this fine legislation. What is the objective of those who constantly seek to acquire university status for their institutes? As Minister, I oversaw the transformation of two institutes, one in Limerick and another in Dublin, to universities. Interestingly, it was my brother, Brian, God rest him, who was responsible for securing their status as institutes from their previous status, whatever that was. Without naming names, some of the institutes seem to have notions about becoming universities for no particular good purpose. They seem to believe that such status will mean that everyone walking the corridors will constantly sport a mortar board and gown and reek of chalk.

I am unaware of any institute that has failed the test of being a good purveyor of quality education in diversified ways. They play an important role in providing a modular system of qualifications, allowing students to climb the ladder from certificate, through diploma and degree, as far as doctorate level, adding to the earlier accolades they have earned. Under this Bill, the HEA will oversee the funding of the institutes and they will report to it. The directors of the individual colleges will be accountable to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

I remember the sad days when hundreds of young women and men, delighted with the qualifications they received in the colleges, faced the prospect of being unable to secure a job. Instead, they were forced to go abroad with only their education as dowry. Their certificates and diplomas stood to them because most were able to secure decent employment in the countries in which they settled. When people speak of those forced to leave Ireland in the 1980s for work, I have visions of those delighted young people with their qualifications pouring out of Athlone. Many have now returned and set up businesses in the midlands. We had a good night in Athlone recently where some of these people spoke of their college days and how wonderful they were.

I praise the Minister for this wonderful legislation. I also acknowledge her departmental officials because I am well aware that no Minister simply wakes up and produces legislation out of his or her head. This legislation brings the institutes of technology forward the next step in their development.