In 2004, the Government commissioned a major OECD review of higher education to support Ireland's strategic ambition of placing our higher education system at the front rank of the OECD in the context of the wider national objective of developing as a world leading knowledge economy and society. A key recommendation of the OECD report was that Ireland should retain the differentiation in mission of the university and institute of technology sectors, which it identified as a key strength of our system, and that there should be no institutional transfers into the university system for the foreseeable future. The report also recommended that the universities and institutes of technology should be brought together under the remit of a single authority for the purpose of achieving a unified higher education strategy.
The Institutes of Technology Act 2006 addresses significant elements of these recommendations and marks a major milestone for the sector and for the development of higher education in Ireland.
In February 2006 the Governing Body of Waterford Institute of Technology wrote to the Department of Education and Science requesting a review of its status under Section 9 of the Universities Act 1997. To assist in the assessment of Waterford IT's application, I appointed Dr. Jim Port in February 2007 to provide preliminary advice on the merits of the submission by WIT, having regard to; (i) the national strategy for the development of Irish higher education, (ii) implications for regional development in the South-East in the context of the National Spatial Strategy and (iii) any likely implications for the overall structure of higher education in Ireland. Dr Port's report has been received and is currently under consideration.
There are significant wider policy issues that need to be considered in advance of any possible statutory review and I am currently considering these in the light of Dr Port's report.