Vol. 559 No. 6
130 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of additional staff allocated to institutes of technology for the academic year 2002-2003; the amount of additional funding provided to pay these new staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26926/02]
In response to requests from individual institutes of technology, in the course of the annual programmes and budget process, a total of 105 posts were approved for the academic year 2002-2003 in order to give the institutes the scope and flexibility they sought to address their staffing needs. It was made clear to the institutes that these posts could only be filled by them on the basis that the commitment involved could be met from their existing resources and within the allocated budget. It is a matter for institutes to make the final decisions on the implementation of the programmes approved, including the filling of sanctioned posts and the management of the resources of the institutes generally.
