Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Táimid ag fanacht leis le tamall fada. I welcome the Minister of State. I too very much welcome this Bill. It has been a long time in the making. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome some of the key stakeholders who are listening to this debate in the Visitors Gallery: Dr. Mary Meaney, the project leader and members of the Technological University for Dublin Alliance, TU4Dublin; and Dr. Joe Ryan, the CEO of the Technological Higher Education Association.

This is like Brexit in reverse. Along with others in TU4Dublin, there have been people working behind the scenes, making sure there is free movement of goods, services and persons and avoiding hard borders in the future. They and the students and staff they serve have been waiting a long time for the resolution of problems and knotty issues that had to be sorted out. It is time to move on, and it is a pity that there has been a delay, as I will say in a moment.

I note everything that the Minister of State has said about the importance of this Bill. It is about consolidation. It is about increasing the scale and capacity of our institutes of technology by allowing them to merge and to enjoy university status, with all of the attendant opportunities in regard to research, attracting staff and the prestige of the qualification that they offer their graduates. Speaking as someone from rural Ireland, I note the even greater importance of the regionalisation of the university product. I should declare an agenda in that I am on career break from what will be the technological university for Dublin, so if the electors of the National University of Ireland prove ungrateful, I could be back enjoying the new status sooner than I had planned.

This is overdue good news. I want to acknowledge the changes and adjustments that have been made. The Green Party's recommendations and proposals for amendments have been properly acknowledged. In particular, I acknowledge the ironing out of concerns that institutes could merge and subsequently fail to gain technological university status. There was a fear of being left at the church, so to speak, waiting not for the other party but for the minister. That is one of many issues that needed to be sorted out, and I am very glad that they have been.

This Bill is an unambiguous opportunity to improve the potential of Irish citizens to enjoy an ever-more prestigious qualification. It has been a long time in the works, as I have said. It needs to become law as quickly as possible. There has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes.

Regarding the delay, I am concerned that there are already students who have not had the opportunity to have their qualification designated as a university qualification. I acknowledge that there are concerns about people who are not affected by technological university status. I refer to students of other institutes that do not merge and go for technological university status, for example, or indeed people who go for other perfectly valid post-leaving certificate options. It is important to send out the signal that there are different paths to success, and they do not all involve a university degree. Perhaps the Minister of State could address the question of ways in which, in pursuing the important goal of allowing graduates university status, we can also ensure that the reputations of other equally valid options, either post-leaving certificate or for people moving on and upskilling, do not suffer as a result of this very positive change.