Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 162: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his position on the privatisation of third level universities in view of the current OECD review of third level education. [9808/04]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I have invited the OECD to conduct an extensive review of higher education in Ireland in order to map a future strategy for the sector. This is set against a background of Ireland's strategic objective of placing its higher education system in the top rank of the OECD in terms of both quality and level of participation and by the priority to create a world class research, development and innovation capacity and infrastructure in Ireland.

The OECD review will evaluate how well the Irish higher education sector is meeting these strategic objectives and will offer recommendations for future progress by reference to comparative performance in other OECD countries. The OECD review team bring an unprecedented wealth and spread of expertise to the task. They have undertaken extensive consultation with all key stakeholders in the sector during a visit to Ireland in February and are currently engaged in the complex process of formulating their report.

A wide range of suggestions and proposals have been put to the OECD team, both through the many formal submissions received and in the extensive discussions that they have undertaken. All of these are under consideration as part of their deliberations and should be considered openly in the context of the broad nature of the exercise being undertaken. I do not propose to pre-empt the outcome of the review at this time. In common with all those in society with an interest in the development of our higher education system, I await the outcome of the review with interest and look forward to future dialogue on the next steps.