Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
271. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the position of Irish universities in global league tables (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1014/13]
View answerIrish universities' positions in the Times Higher Education rankings has remained relatively stable this year which show that Ireland still has 2 universities in the top 200; 2 in the top 350 and another university in the top 400. Two of these universities, Trinity College Dublin and National University Ireland Galway have improved their relative ranking positions in the last year. While UCD's relative ranking has fallen, their overall point score is higher than last year.
There are a multitude of ranking systems each of which has their own particular methodology and bias and it is important not to place too much reliance on these systems as an indicator of system quality. While some higher education systems have invested heavily in elite institutions and adopted a policy of differentiated support for different tiers of institutions, in Ireland our focus is on advancing performance across an accessible and diverse system of institutions. This policy is paying dividends for Ireland's growing competitiveness and we are now ranked 1st Globally by the IMD World Competitiveness survey for availability of skilled labour due to our impressive ranking of first in EU and fourth in OECD for higher education attainment rates of our 25-34 year olds.
