Any application for university status falls to be made under section 9 of the Universities Act, 1997.
Section 9 of the Universities Act, 1997 provides that the Government may, at any time, appoint a body, the membership of which shall be recommended by the Higher Education Authority and shall include international experts and national experts, including employees of universities to which the Act applies, to advise the authority on whether, having regard to the objects and functions of a university under sections 12 and 13, an educational institution should be established as a university.
There are no proposals at present to change the status of the Institute of Technology in Tralee.