Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for her work on the Bill. I very much welcome this Bill, which will establish technological universities with strong regional ties to support development. In particular, I welcome the forming of the Connacht-Ulster alliance, of Galway-Mayo, Sligo and Letterkenny institutes of technology.

It is very important that we have increased co-operation in the sector and on a regional level to ensure our technological universities are best placed to compete at national and international levels.

My Roscommon-Galway constituency does not have an institute of technology currently, but we are surrounded by regions that have institutes of technology and our area must not be left out in the move towards increased co-operation. There is a significant wealth of industry experience right across our region and when institutes link together it is very important that we create and continue to forge stronger links with industry across the region. We want our students to access employment and we need to identify the employment sectors with increased opportunities.

There have been a number of amendments to the Bill. These are especially relevant in the context of existing staff and how they would transfer. The variety of choice in courses has also been raised as an issue. It is important that this choice continues to be available right across the institutes. It is essential to ensure that prospective students have the greatest level of choice possible. Many students in my community commute on a daily basis - be it to Sligo or Letterkenny institutes of technology - and it is essential that we ensure the current level of choice available in our institutes is maintained.

I welcome all the work that has been done across the entire sector. While it is important to have increased co-operation between the ITs, it is also critical to forge stronger links with industry to identify employment opportunities for our graduates.