Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 1310: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when it is proposed to refer the submission of Waterford Institute of Technology in regard to upgrading to university status to the independent group for appraisal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29048/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The submission from Waterford Institute of Technology seeking university status remains under consideration by my Department.

There is a very detailed statutory review process required prior to the designation of any new university and there are significant wider issues that need to be considered in progressing that. Wider developments in the overall higher education sector are relevant in that regard. In that context, it is important to take account of very significant recent changes in the overall legislative framework governing Irish higher education, with the passage of the new Institutes of Technology Act 2006 at the end of the last Dáil term. This will now bring the institutes of technology under the remit of the Higher Education Authority as part of a unified strategic higher education framework. It also introduces important new managerial and governance freedoms that will allow institutes to develop their roles.