David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of brief supplementary questions. Why is there a need for a new consultation process? We have had consultation after consultation on this issue for decades. We have an institute of technology in Waterford which is operating almost as a university and that has been recognised. The reason for a new consultation process is because the process has developed into a mess. It is unfair and simplistic to characterise the problem as differences within both institutes. There are dark forces within the Higher Education Authority and in the academic world, which were against it from the outset. If anybody does not believe that, their heads are in the sand. It is part of the problem but not the only problem.

I asked about the resignation of the chairman of WIT, and this is a very important question, and I put it to the Minister again, whether she had a conversation with the outgoing chairman before he resigned. Did she have a conversation with him about his stance on this issue and did that conversation influence his decision to resign as the chairman of the board? I think the people of Waterford will be less interested in those issues and more interested in the timeframe. I appreciate that the Minister states that she cannot give me that information today, but the people of the south east need to be given confidence that not only is the process back on track but it will be delivered and we will end the education apartheid in the south east.

This is about the students. It is not about the Minister or me, but the young people of the south east who deserve to have educational opportunities as anybody else has. The Minister is best placed to make that a reality. Of course, the institutes have to play their part as does the Higher Education Authority, the Department of Education and Skills and the senior officials involved. I appeal to the Minister to make it happen by doing everything possible to make this happen.