David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I call for a debate on where Government policy and strategy stand in respect of the proposed technological universities. A commitment was given in the programme for Government to allow institutes of technology to make joint applications to obtain the status of technological university. A number of such applications were submitted, with some applicants being more advanced than others. There has, however, been no progress to speak of. In the south east, the joint application by Carlow Institute of Technology and Waterford Institute of Technology came to a halt when one of those institutes paused the process. Since then, we have had the report published by Professor Michael Kelly, and the two institutes are currently trying to work through the issues identified in that report.

This is very important for a region like the south east which does not have a university. I am unclear as to the proposed next step for progressing the application by Waterford and Carlow. There have been no briefings for Oireachtas Members since the Kelly report and no real information has been given to people in Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny or Wexford. We are left wondering what Government policy might be on this issue and how it is intended to proceed. These are legitimate questions, but the answers do not seem to be forthcoming from the Government. Will the Deputy Leader invite the Minister to the House for a debate on this issue? It affects not only the south east but also the south west, Dublin and other locations where applications have been made. We need the Minister to outline the status of each of those applications, how advanced they are, what supports are being provided by the Higher Education Authority and the Department, and what efforts are being made by the individual institutes to progress matters. The proposals for technological universities were a strong platform of the Government's education strategy and we need to know what is happening in that regard.