John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

In terms of future direction, the institutes and universities have been invited to submit proposals for the strategic innovation fund. Those proposals are being sought this week. The fund is worth €300 million and the institutes, on an equal par with the universities, can bid and compete for moneys. That is recognising, in ways other than through this legislation, the role of the institutes of technology.

I acknowledge the work which has gone into developing the institutes over a considerable number of years. When the Leader was Minister for Education she progressed the institutes of technology. She referred to the link between education and the economy and to the fact that the availability of skilled graduates in the regions meant that industry was willing to move to the regions. That link is one we need to continue to foster. Despite the fact that the institutes will be brought under the remit of HEA and will be given greater autonomy, it is crucial they should not lose sight of their mission and that they have always been good on progression. As Senator Tuffy said, one could enter an institute at the lowest level and progress to be a PhD graduate. The institutes had led the way on progression and shown good example. I hope they will continue to do that but we need to ensure that a mission drift is avoided.

On the point of the numbers attending third level colleges, what is significant is not that Waterford having fewer graduates. That is no longer the case. It had the largest increase——