Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and for his contribution. I assure him that departmental officials are working, as I said, and the work has already started to develop the regulations and the process in regard to the designation by order provisions in the Higher Education Authority Act 2022. Once the designation by order regulations and the process are both approved, the designation by order sections of the Higher Education Authority Act will be commenced.The regulations are being written. Once they are finalised the legislation can be commenced, and then those regulations can come into effect by ministerial order.

The National College of Ireland and other institutions will be informed at that time of the application process relating to designation. It will be open to them to apply for designation under the legislation. Any application received by the National College of Ireland will be assessed in accordance with the designation-by-order regulations and the process.