Vol. 502 No. 3
672 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the current and projected requirements in respect of university or other third level places; the extent to which these needs will be met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8433/99]
There were some 104,000 students in our third level institutions in 1997/98, the last year for which statistics are available and my Department is projecting an increase on this figure to some 112,000 in 1999/2000. I would however, mention that the first review of the 1995 report of the ste ering committee on the Future Development of Higher Education, which was carried out by a study group under the chairmanship of Dr. Donal de Buitléir, has recently been finalised and will be published shortly. The study group's remit was to advise on the appropriate level of provision of education and training places for school leavers and others.
