David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is obviously good and useful that both institutes are at least talking and that some progress is being made, if I am to take the Minister's word at face value. I am sure that some progress has been made. I have spoken to people in both institutes on numerous occasions, as well as other stakeholders mainly in Waterford but also in the wider region. The problem is that while they may be talking and there might be some progress, in the absence of a visible plan and model it is difficult to see how we can get to the end product.

The Minister is correct in saying that there is a legislative process in place which enables institutes to merge. That is fair enough and they are the nuts and bolts of how a merger can be created. We should ask what this technological university will mean for the south east, what model it will be, what type of courses it will deliver and where the main campus will be. All these issues are not there, however, so people do not see the big picture. Maybe that is one of the reasons we have these stumbling blocks because there will obviously be tensions within both institutes. In the absence of a clearly worked out model on the table, I would fear for the future of this project, although I am hugely supportive of it. I want to see it getting over the line, the same as everybody else. We all do, but we are nearly five years into this Government's term of office and unfortunately we cannot say that we are close to the end by any stretch of the imagination. I am not saying that all, or even any of it, is the Government's fault, but I am saying that there are clear problems. In my view, the biggest problem is that there is an absence of an actual model. Until we get that model, which may have to come from both institutes, I do not think people will have confidence that it will in fact be delivered.