Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive statement last night and for mentioning the Green Party’s work on a number of technical amendments to the Bill. The amendments, tabled by my colleague, Deputy Catherine Martin, dealt with the need for technological universities to have an ethos focused on research and knowledge rather than one dominated by commercialism. Deputy Martin also raised a number of issues with the Bill that have not been resolved, such as the lack of provision for sufficient student representation on the governing body and academic council of the new technological universities; an inappropriate prioritisation of business and enterprise over social and cultural factors that could undermine the status of Ireland’s current universities as leaders in unbiased knowledge creation; the lack of protection for collective academic freedom, including that of PhD students, to direct research in new and innovative ways, such as in renewable energy, gender or ecological studies; and a lack of regional community representatives on the board or governing body of a technological university. I will be putting forward a number of amendments to address these matters as the Bill progresses through the House.

As a public representative from Waterford, I have several concerns with the Bill and the process by which it has been put before the Houses of the Oireachtas. First, the Bill was introduced to the Dáil at short notice and Second Stage was dealt with by the previous Dáil. Thus, the wider, overarching issues of technological universities, and the effects of amalgamating rural institutes of technology in particular, have never been fully debated by the current Dáil. Secondly, the Joint Committee on Education and Skills, with the exception of Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, who was Minister at the time, is almost entirely composed of new Members, none of whom were on the equivalent committee of the Thirty-first Dáil, which dealt with the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. The deliberative process of this substantial 96-page Bill has been rushed, thereby hampering the deliberations of public representatives.

If the Bill is passed, Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, and Institute of Technology Carlow will merge to form a technological university for the south east. The people of Waterford and the south east have never been content with WIT’s designation as an institute of technology. We believe that a city-region of Waterford’s size needs an academic body with full university status and that WIT deserves that designation. However, there are concerns that the planned technological university for the south east may be based in Kilkenny rather than Waterford. I will be seeking assurances from the Minister of State in that regard. These concerns are compounded by the sometimes less than perfect working relationship between the Carlow and Waterford institutes, as detailed in the 2015 Kelly report.

Despite the hard and determined work of Waterford City and County Council under its chief executive, Michael Walsh, Waterford city is still struggling economically and socially. An ESRI study published this week shows that the south east will have the lowest job growth in Ireland in the coming years. The Government needs to commit to a national planning framework that progresses sustainable development and equality across the country. An improperly managed merger underwritten by a foundational lack of trust between the parties will not improve matters. This issue deserves more deliberation and I would appreciate the time to so do.

I wish to express concerns relayed to me from WIT academics that the Bill as it stands may produce watered-down academic standards and that, as stated by Dr. Ray Griffin in last Monday’s edition of The Irish Times, we are in danger of "taking out the educational engine of the regions". Waterford has had previous bad experiences with grandstanding on academic matters such as the designation of Waterford Regional Hospital as University Hospital Waterford under the former Minister for Health, Senator James Reilly, in 2014. We were promised that the change would deliver greater resources and staff and expertise for Waterford hospital but such resources did not emerge. There is a lack of 24-7 cardiac care services in Waterford and lip service has been paid to the O’Higgins report, with both those failings contributing to the recent tragic death of Thomas Power.

I am seeking reassurance that any merger of WIT will result in a technological university renowned as an international centre of excellence that will radically add capacity to the region's higher education system and allow the young people of Waterford and the surrounding counties to remain in the region.We do not want to see the same mistakes with University Hospital Waterford play out with the loss of WIT. There should be parity of treatment for the periphery of our country.