Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I know he has a particular interest in this issue but I do see that we are joined by a school and students. As Minister of State with responsibility for higher education, the epicentre of everything I do is ensuring that students and young students coming through our education system get the very best. I have said on numerous occasions in the Dáil, Seanad and institutes of technology, wherever I am, that we should all make students the epicentre of what we do. Many of us must forget vested interests.

My Department was informed by the TUI this week that members of that union employed by Dundalk Institute of Technology will be engaging in strike action on Tuesday, 19 November 2019, following a ballot of members. I was very sad to hear Senator Nash say that there is such a toxic atmosphere in the institute. I urge all those involved to go back to basics and think about where the students are and what is best. I have said that technological universities have a pivotal role in third-level pathways to education for our students. I recently announced €90 million will be ring fenced. I had not seen much publicity given to it - probably until the Senator mentioned it in the Seanad. This funding will be for the development of technological universities over the next three years.

In its letter to the Department, the TUI outlined its reasons for taking action, including allegations that institute management has failed to adhere to national collective agreements and to respect industrial relations mechanisms and fora.The union also cited a proposal to create a new fifth school in the institute as a reason for the action and expressed concern in relation to the future strategic direction of Dundalk Institute of Technology.

The dispute appears at this stage to relate to internal matters within the institute and as such, local discussion between the union and institute management will be needed. No dispute is resolved without the parties involved sitting around the table to discuss the issues between them. I urge the parties here to engage in that dialogue in an effort to avoid the proposed strike action that would inevitably result in disruption to the students, and to resolve the issues in dispute. Officials in my Department have been in contact with the human resources management in the institute and are monitoring the situation.

The strategic direction of Irish higher education institutes is a matter for each higher education institute, HEI, as an autonomous institution. Government policy, as set out in the programme for Government, is to support the creation of technological universities as HEIs of sufficient size, capacity and critical mass to have a significant impact for students at regional, national and international level. Technological universities will have greater links to industry and will have a major impact on the capacity to create and retain jobs in regions. They will assist significantly in achieving national strategic objectives as set out under Project Ireland 2040, the national development plan and Future Jobs Ireland. The Government will continue to prioritise those institutions that have clear ambitions and plans for the furthering of industry-relevant technological research and education.

In addition to the provision of the enabling legislation in the Technological Universities Act 2018, whereby two or more institutes of technology may choose to come together to seek technological university status, such consortia of institutes of technology will continue to be supported in terms of significant Exchequer funding. To date more than €30 million has been provided to technological university development consortia in the State and to Technological University Dublin, which was established on 1 January 2019. I also wish to inform Senator Nash that I am a Minister of State who has really pushed this agenda. Yes, the Technological University Dublin is up and running but I wanted to hear from other consortia also to ensure they embrace the technological university pathway. I am glad to hear the Senator speak of the importance of technological universities, but I stress that each institution is autonomous with its own governing body. I understand there is a process strategy currently and that the governing body representatives, led by Professor John Bristow, have been working on this for the past six months and their report is nearly ready. Perhaps we need to see that report before we have strike action.