We have presented a written document to the committee. I will summarise the main points made and outline the conclusions or solutions suggested by the institutes of technology sector.
I will first provide some background on the sector and indicate from where we are coming. In the first paragraph of the document we state that the institutes of technology, including the Dublin institutes of technology in this circumstance, take into third level on an annual basis more than 50% of the first-time admissions. They represent, therefore, a substantial element of the third level sector. We represent 13 institutes of technology, namely, Athlone, Blanchardstown, Carlow, Cork, Dundalk, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, Letterkenny, Limerick, Sligo, Tallaght, Tralee and Waterford.
The history of the sector in the past 30 years highlights the development of the economy on a regional basis through the development of the institutes of technology or the regional technical colleges as they were formerly known. It is important to consider the development of the sector and the economy in tandem, with particular concentration on the regional dimension, during the period in question. We have outlined in our document the number of graduates produced from the sector on an annual basis. More than 10,000 such graduates emerge each year, 30% of who obtain honours bachelor degrees, 40% with ordinary bachelor degrees and 30% with higher certificates. The significance is that the institutes have totally immersed themselves in the new national qualifications framework. Our traditional national certificate and degree programmes are now redesignated as higher certificates, ordinary bachelor degrees and honours bachelor degrees.
The sector has grown dramatically, particularly since the mid-1980s. If one takes as a base year 1987, when I joined the sector, the growth in student numbers has been dramatic in the interim. Between 1987 and 1990, the increase in enrolment in the institutes, right across the sector, amounted to 100%. At that time, resources were not increased to allow the sector to deal with this. The sector should be commended in terms of innovating to accommodate student numbers during that specific period. The sector's track record sets it up for further innovation in terms of the development of the research area, a matter on which we wish to concentrate this morning.
During the past ten years there has been an increase in the growth of research across the sector. We have achieved much without the requisite resources. If the institutes receive the investment funds necessary to build the physical infrastructure, we can further develop that research capacity and capability.
Building excellence is a very important element of what we do. We have excellent people working within the institutes of technology. Our track record in teaching has proven this. We now want to support the staff we have in the development of our own research capacity and capabilities. Building excellence in the research area is what we are talking about.
Our presentation refers to the current research profile. The Chairman mentioned that Science Foundation Ireland has appeared before the joint committee and members are also aware of the programme for research in third level institutions, PRTLI, programmes. On page 3 of the presentation, we outline the number of institutions of technology that have been successful in accessing funds from both those sources. Unfortunately, we feel the terms of reference for competition in these areas are skewed against the institutes in trying to build the excellence about which we are talking. While we have outlined the ten institutes which have participated and been successful in PRTLI and the four which have participated under SFI, there is further potential within the sector that these programmes are not allowing us to exploit. We would like to pursue this in the discussion later.
Our presentation also outlines the technological sector research programme which looks at research and development in the institute of technology sector. The statistics for that programme are impressive. They show the number of postgraduate research projects funded in the sector but, more particularly, the number of graduate entrepreneurs who have come out of the institutes of technology in recent years, the number of enterprises which have been created and the number of jobs that have come from them.
It is important to recognise the contribution of Enterprise Ireland to this activity. Enterprise Ireland has been participative with the institutes and encouraged them to get involved in the innovation partnership programme and through TecNet, where it has worked directly with the institutes of technology to encourage research in specific areas throughout the country. Enterprise Ireland has also helped in the development of business incubation centres on and off campuses throughout the country, with the support of a fund put in place by the Tánaiste in 2002.
On page 5, members will see a distribution of research funding on a regional basis. The table shows the imbalance in the dispersal of funds across the country, particularly between major urban areas and more rural areas. There is a need to address this imbalance. There is also an imbalance in funding to the IT sector. We feel we could get more of that funding and contribute more on a regional basis as a result.
In suggesting solutions we have highlighted four points, the first being:
A research funding vehicle which will provide competitive research programmes to develop necessary space and facilities in the institutes. This will underpin regional development and national spatial strategy objectives.
Following the recommendations of the national spatial strategy the majority of the gateway towns have institutes of technology. The institutes of technology can be the drivers of the national spatial strategy. However, in developing our own research capacity, space and facilities are important to us. We suggest an investment of approximately €50 million over a three year period to develop this infrastructural capacity. This would represent approximately 10% of the PRTLI funding to date.
Our second point requires "new funding programme criteria to have regard to commercialisation of research or near-to-market research and technology transfer". This is important in terms of the most recent publication from the enterprise strategy group. The IT sector is strong in terms of the commercialisation of research, near-to-market research and technology transfer. We want to continue to support that. Our strand 3 programme is sitting at between €5 and €6 million. We would like to see that increased to approximately €30 million to provide the basis for further development in this area.
Our third point sought a "floor funding initiative for the institutes of technology". We have been very strongly teaching institutions. Our staff has very definite contracts regarding their teaching load and so on. We are looking for more flexibility in that area so that the resources we have can be redirected. The floor funding would give us the flexibility to do that.
Our fourth point sought "the incentivisation of greater levels of collaboration between all the institutions in higher education". The first appendix to our document outlines a sample of the work ongoing in each of the 13 institutes of technology. Much collaboration is already ongoing between ourselves, with the universities locally and international bodies. Much of the funding for those programmes comes from European, not national sources. In Waterford Institute of Technology, for example, 54 researchers are employed in a full-time capacity in the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group, TSSG. That has arisen from the development of excellence within the Waterford area. Similar activity is taking place throughout the institutes of technology.
We have the capacity in the people we employ. We want to develop that capacity further through the infrastructure and the dedicated space we can have in the institutes and to build the excellence that we know is already in the research area.