Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for getting his point across without having to read any notes. Waterford Institute of Technology has a good name and I understand the Senator?s point.

The Government has endorsed the national strategy for higher education to 2030 which was published in early 2011 as the roadmap for the future development of our higher education system. The objective of the higher education reform programme that is being pursued is to create a more flexible and outward facing higher education system, one which is responsive to the diverse needs of students and society and delivers a high quality student experience. The reform programme will require several system changes to support these objectives. These will include: the development of a smaller number of higher education institutions of significant strength and critical mass governed according to best modern practice; a sustainable system of funding to allow for further growth and development with public funding more aligned to national priorities and needs; and a more performance-oriented system with much more transparent data flows to assess outcomes and impacts and strengthened accountability for institutions according to agreed performance contracts.

The implementation of the reform programme is being overseen by an implementation group chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills. A detailed implementation plan, updated regularly, is published on the Department's website. As part of the implementation process, Towards a Higher Education Landscape, published in February 2012, initiated a process of engagement by the HEA with higher education institutions with a view to providing the Minister with advice on how the higher education system should be configured to deliver on the objectives of the reform programme as provided for in the strategy and further articulated in the landscape documents. As part of this process, all publicly-funded institutions were asked to make submissions to the HEA on their future strategic development within the system. The HEA has also commissioned several other inputs, including from a panel of six international experts and the ESRI. When the process of analysing the institutional submissions against the objectives and recommendations in the national strategy and the landscape documents is completed, the HEA will publish the inputs it has received.

Regarding the evolutionary pathway laid out in the national strategy for institutes of technology, the landscape document also sets out a clear four stage process and criteria for institutes of technology which wish to apply for designation as a technological university. This process and the criteria have been endorsed by the Government.