Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 349: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if further consideration has been given to the application of Waterford Institute of Technology to be upgraded to university status following the publication of the Dr. Jim Port Report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16091/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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To date applications have been received to invoke Section 9 of the Universities Act, 1997 from Waterford Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute of Technology and Cork Institute of Technology. These applications raise significant issues regarding Government policy towards higher education, in particular the existing roles of the Universities and Institutes of Technology which have distinctive missions from each other, provide different levels and types of academic programmes, fulfil different roles in the community and have separate academic and governance structures.

While Dr Port's report is specifically on the Waterford application, it also provides a useful analysis of the wider context in which any application for designation as a university must be considered. The options presented in the Port Report are being examined carefully by my Department with a view to developing specific proposals on the appropriate next steps in the context of the wider considerations involved. I intend to present proposals to Government in this regard in the coming weeks.