Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 July 2021
16. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if there was a compliant appointment process for the appointment of a person (details supplied) to a position. [36550/21]
View answerThe appointment of the TUSEI consortium’s Programme Executive Director was made by the TUSEI consortium comprising IT Carlow and Wateford IT in the context of accelerating their proposals to submit an application seeking TU designation under the prescribed legislative process set out in the Technological Universities Act 2018.
Following engagement between the TUSEI consortium and the Department on both the importance and urgency of appointing senior executive leadership to the consortium, the consoritum undertook the filling of the role of programme executive director. This urgency reflected the essential contribution to the preparation of an application for TU designation of such a role, and the priority that the Minister and Government afforded to the establishment of a TU for the South East in light of broader national and regional strategic objectives.
The Department was advised of the proposed appointment and agreed that it would meet the urgent requirements which the Department and institution Presidents had identified for independent senior executive leadership to accelerate the delivery of the TUSEI project, that up to that point had been ongoing for some 9 years.
The responsibility for the appointment process and agreeing the specific contractual arrangements were matters for the TUSEI consortium. The Department did recognise that urgency and the specific requirements of the role were relevant in finalising this temporary, project-specific appointment.
As Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, I welcomed the appointment of Mr. Tom Boland as the TUSEI consortium programme executive director on 28 July 2020 in the context of the importance Government attaches to the establishment of a TU in the South East. The successful submission of a joint application for TU status by the Governing Bodies of the two institutions in April underscores the importance of the work undertaken.
