Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 January 2024
200. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide a statement on the general decline in student numbers across the technological university sector since the sector was established. [4360/24]
View answerA national network of 5 TUs stretches across some 25 campuses, bringing the advantages and potential of university-driven skills and innovation to communities across the country. Higher education access is being provided in a far more balanced regional manner and TUs are driving regional development and socio-economic progress in places with no previous university footprint as diverse as Athlone, Carlow, Castlebar, Clonmel, Ennis, Killybegs, Letterfrack, Letterkenny, Mount Bellew, Rathnew, Sligo, Thurles, Tralee, Waterford and Wexford. My Department and I are committed to advancing the Technological Universities agenda, and in summer of 2023 I introduced the Technological Sector Advancement Fund, providing €50 million to continue to assist our new TUs in their post-establishment phase.
The establishment of technological universities has coincided with pandemic-related disruption to typical enrolment trends. The last four years have been marked by significant fluctuations in enrolments in the higher education sector in general, including the TU sector, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall higher education enrolments in 2022/23 were down for the first time in more than a decade. This has been driven by two key factors. Firstly, there has been a post-pandemic adjustment after a significant increase in enrolments in 2020 which saw enrolments overall jump by 13,270 in a single year. Secondly, strong labour market opportunities encourage individuals to pursue employment rather than education. These are factors that impact the entire tertiary education sector, not merely the technological universities.
Applications to all technological universities have increased in the period from 2020 to 2023. Overall, the number of applications to the sector has increased by 18% in that period.
