Written answers

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Department of Education and Skills

Proposed Legislation

Photo of Tom FlemingTom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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959. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the draft technological universities Bill 2014 in view of the fact that if implemented as currently drafted it will lead to a dramatic reduction in the regional provision of programmes and corresponding inequity in access to higher education and allow the Higher Education Authority and the new technological universities the right to introduce new student fees, thus further increasing inequity in the educational sector; if she agrees that ministerial intervention is urgently required now, as the heads of Bill, in their current draft, are totally unacceptable to the 180 academic and research staff in the Institute of Tralee, County Kerry, and likewise to staff in other institutions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21647/15]

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Technological Universities Bill, which is currently being drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the basis of the General Scheme agreed by Government in 2014, will provide that applications for Technological University status can only be made by institutes formed through the merger of two or more institutes of technology.

While merging institutes will be required to establish unified governance and management structures, they will be multi-campus entities which will continue to provide a broad range of programmes of education and training in each of their campuses. Indeed, by creating institutions of greater scale and strength, high quality multi-campus technological universities will be able to bring greater social and economic benefits to their respective regions.

The Technological University Bill, when published, will reflect technological universities' multi-campus nature and their regional focus.

As the Deputy notes, Head 69 of the General Scheme provides technological universities with the power to determine and charge fees. However, this is exactly the same power which is provided to universities under the Universities Act 1997 and the wording of Head 69 is based on the wording of the relevant provisions of that Act.

It should be noted that, while Universities have the authority under legislation to set their own fees, the Department of Education and Skills can only provide grant in lieu of tuition fee funding based on fee level increases agreed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and this would, therefore, also be the case for technological universities. No increases in fee levels have been approved in recent years.

With regard to the concerns of the staff of IT Tralee, good communication between the leadership of any institute of technology entering into a merger and the staff and students of that higher education institution is extremely important so that a shared vision and understanding of the new institution can be developed. That message has been conveyed by the HEA and by my Department from the outset.

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