Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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168. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if any Irish universities have had to place a cap on student numbers due to funding difficulties; his views on student entry caps as a means of dealing with funding shortfalls by universities; and the sanction he or the Higher Education Authority can employ to censure universities who cap student numbers on certain courses due to funding shortfalls. [19111/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Higher Education Institutions have responded positively in recent years to increasing student demand despite challenging financial circumstances, and have continued to provide opportunities for increasing numbers of students to undertake a higher education qualification. In the last five years alone, there has been a significant increase in both undergraduate and postgraduate numbers. Full-time undergraduate enrolments increased by 11%, part-time undergraduates by 8% and postgraduate enrolments have grown by 8%.

The system will have to provide an even greater number of places over the next decade to accommodate a growing cohort of school leavers and to meet continued demand from the labour market for graduates. The system must be resourced sufficiently and in a sustainable manner to ensure it can meet these demands and deliver on our national ambitions.

The Expert Group chaired by Peter Cassells was established to examine funding arrangements for higher education and to present options for developing a sustainable long-term funding strategy for the sector. The Expert Group has completed its work and its report will allow for a real and meaningful discussion on the funding requirements of the sector and how those requirements should be met. I intend to publish the report shortly and I will engage with the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills immediately after this as part of the process for formulating a plan for the future of the sector.

Specific details on new entrant numbers for full-time undergraduate programmes in each Irish university over the last five years are set out in the following table. At a sector level, there has been a 5% increase in new entrants since 2011/12. The number of places offered by an institution is dependent on a number of factors. The first is student demand and this can vary across regions for demographic and geographical reasons. It should be noted that while participation rates at third level have increased, there were very low birth rates in the mid-nineties which has resulted in a dip in the number of school leavers in the last number of years. Secondly, some courses have quotas or limits in place because of specific requirements, or in areas such as medicine or nursing which require clinical training placements and are linked to identified future manpower requirements in the health sector.

Full-Time New Entrants by University, 2011/12 - 2015/16