Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment. The amendment proposes to make a technical change. The addition of the proposed wording would broaden the capacity of the technological university to include creative arts. Perhaps this would be done under the entrepreneurial heading but we tend to think of entrepreneurial as having only a business application. Including the words "creative" and "innovative" would broaden the ethos. There is significant capacity here. One of the major problems I encountered in education was the withdrawal in 2008 or 2009 of the seed capital programme in education and training boards for small business start-ups.This amendment broadens the capacity of technological universities to get involved in a plethora of areas. It will not change the Bill fundamentally, but it will give the institutions a great deal more latitude once they are in place. I will support it.