Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would welcome it. I campaigned with others from the region for the designation of Waterford Institute of Technology as a university. I believe that will be pivotal to the region. I am mindful that our third level education system has been deprived of the necessary resources to ensure its educational structures produce graduates that will be of a quality on which we can build our future economic growth. Since this Government took office, there has been a decline in the ranking of our universities in the international league tables. This has to be of concern to us all. My recollection is that the only university in the top 100 is Trinity College Dublin and it, too, has slipped down the ranks during the past seven years. There is no point in having a university in Waterford unless it is not properly resourced. The Minister referred to the library in Ferrybank for the people of south Kilkenny. While developments such as this are necessary, particularly in a county where unemployment is high, we need to offer people more than library books. We need to provide them with jobs. That is where I would like to see the emphasis.

I know from my own county that the local government system has been pivotal in ensuring the interests of counties, towns and cities have been highlighted internationally. This has been done by way of trade, commercial and other promotions of areas, particularly in the Waterford region because of the failure of the IDA to provide any support to the region. Senator Cummins referred to the 3,000 new jobs in Waterford, which are to be welcomed. Anybody would welcome them. What the Senator failed to mention was that the number of job losses in the area equate to the number of jobs created.