Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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654. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of TU designation applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38101/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The establishment of technological universities (TUs) is an important part of the Government’s higher education policy as underscored by the Programme for Government 2020.

Under the statutory framework detailed in the Technological Universities Act 2018, it is a matter, in the first instance, for the relevant Institutes of Technology participating in a technological university development consortium to progress their plans and, when ready, to make an application seeking a Ministerial order to be subsequently approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas establishing a TU, subject to jointly meeting the eligibility criteria prescribed in the 2018 Act.

The consortium comprising Athlone Institute of Technology and Limerick Institute of Technology submitted their application on 20 November, the third such application made under the 2018 Act following those by TU Dublin and Munster TU development consortia in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

In addition, my Department understands the following to be the position in relation to the other two consortia currently pursuing TU designation:-

- TheConnacht Ulster Alliance (CUA) consortium, comprising Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Sligo and Letterkenny Institute of Technology, is planning, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria, to submit their application by the end of this year.

- The Technological University for the South East of Ireland (TUSEI) comprising Institute of Technology Carlow and Waterford Institute of Technology has appointed a new programme executive director to finalise and submit their application by the end of April 2021.

On 7 October I announced the first tranche of funding under a new Transformation Fund overseen and administered by the Higher Education Authority to assist in the creation and development of technological universities. The allocations are detailed in the table under. In total Exchequer funding under the Fund will comprise €90 million in the period to 2023.

Table: Exchequer funding allocations, 1st Sept 2020 – 31st Aug 2021 (€ million )