Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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623. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of Dundalk Institute of Technology’s progress towards technological university status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39183/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is a matter for the governing body of a higher education institution (HEI) as to the strategic positioning of the institution on the higher education landscape.

Dundalk Institute of Technology is understood to be currently pursuing a trajectory to achieve technological university (TU) status. The Institute is in receipt of Exchequer funding under the Transformation Fund and advice from a special advisor in the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Dr. Ruaidhri Neavyn, in support of its efforts to achieve TU status.

Given the network of TUs now established, it is more likely that the Institute's ambition to become part of a multi-campus TU will de facto require to be advanced under the legislative approach prescribed in section 38 of the Technological Universities Act 2018 which provides for the merger of an Institute of Technology with an existing TU.

The Department and the HEA will continue to support the Institute in seeking to achieve TU status as appropriate.