Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the news this week of the announcement that an application has been put forward by Limerick Institute of Technology, LIT, and Athlone Institute of Technology, AIT, to become a technological university. It is really welcome news for the region - the mid-west and the midlands - and for Tipperary. We have two sections of LIT, one in Thurles and one in Clonmel. It is really important for a region such as Tipperary that we have a university in a town such as Clonmel. It brings so many advantages. I really hope that in a number of months the same will happen in Waterford and Carlow as well, and that an application will go forward for the two institutes of technology there to become a technological university. I encourage the Leader to ask the Minister with responsibility for higher education to come to the Seanad to speak on this issue. In Clonmel the university is coming to Kickham Barracks, which has been closed for six years. The barracks is in the centre of town, and the new university will see extra students come in. There are 14,000 students in the two institutes of technology combined, but the new university will accommodate up to 1,000 students in Clonmel. That will have huge implications for a town the size of Clonmel. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister to come before the House to make a statement on this issue.