Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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2553. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there have been any recent developments in the implementation of the borrowing policy for technological universities; if a timeline has been established for when technological universities will be permitted to access borrowing facilities; how this policy is expected to support capital investment and strategic development across the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19870/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Provisions regarding how a university may borrow by means of bank overdraft or otherwise and may guarantee or underwrite a loan taken or borrowing undertaken by any person, are set out in section 38 of the Universities Act 1997 and section 21 of the Technological Universities Act 2018.

Rules regarding how a technological university may borrow are not currently in place. However, there are commitments in the Programme for Government to enable technological universities to borrow funds for initiatives like student accommodation.

For institutions, other than traditional universities, to borrow there would need to a consultation process with the HEA. This would necessitate the establishment of an appropriate framework setting out the criteria, financial and non-financial, including governance, oversight and reporting to define the operational process through which such consent would be sought and obtained. Having passed those primary screening tests, the prospective borrowing entity would then be required to pass the relevant tests, procedures and requirements of the Housing Finance Agency before accessing borrowing funds.

The impacts, risks and responsibilities arising from such borrowing are key considerations in this context. In addition to accessing borrowing on commercially viable and appropriate terms such as would not adversely impact the financial position of TUs themselves or the wider public finances, requisite oversight, risk evaluation, project management and attendant governance and regulatory processes would also need to be established.

The development of robust and adequate systems ensures that any proposed borrowing is rigorously examined to protect both Exchequer funding and HEIs themselves.