Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 16 Dec 1999

Vol. 512 No. 8

Written Answers. - Institutes of Technology.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

133 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will give details of the comparative costs in the top five courses at degree, diploma and certificate levels in each of the institutes of technology and universities using the same courses for comparison within each sector. [27347/99]

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

137 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will give details of the points requirement for different courses across the university and institutes of technology sectors; and the estimated unit cost of each course. [27351/99]

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

138 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will give details of the budget and the number of students at degree, diploma and certificate levels in each of the publicly funded universities and institutes of technology. [27352/99]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 133, 137 and 138 together.

The position in relation to the institute of technology sector is that information sought in relation to estimated unit costs is not available. The budget allocation for 1999 and the number of students at degree level, diploma level and at certificate level for the 1998-99 academic year in each institute of technology is set out in the following table.

Institute	Budget£000'S	DegreeStudents	DiplomaStudents	CertStudents
Athlone	9,110	333	886	1,477
Carlow	9,123	144	579	1,647
Cork	22,562	1,206	1,072	2,404
Dundalk	7,872	300	717	1,485
Dun Laoghaire	4,806	47	393	121
Galway-Mayo	14,689	619	1,321	2,130
Letterkenny	6,365	87	481	1,165
Limerick	10,064	653	932	1,307
Sligo	9,052	383	1,016	1,176
Tallaght	7,342	161	263	1,252
Tralee	7,696	232	365	1,429
Waterford	14,440	2,051	1,167	1,730
Total IoTs	123,121	6,216	9,192	17,323
Total Dublin Institute of Technology	61,940	2,991	2,082	2,339
Grand Total	185,061	9,207	11,274	19,662

As regards the university sector, the average unit costs for various undergraduate courses in the 1997-98 academic year is set out below.

Undergraduate Courses in	Average unit cost in 1997/98 across the 7 universities
	£
Arts / Law	3,738
Commerce / Business	3,433
Science	5,140
Engineering	5,564
Medicine	4,985
Dentistry	15,934
Veterinary Medicine	16,086

As the other unit cost information sought by the Deputy in relation to the university sector is not readily available, I am arranging with the Higher Education Authority to have this information compiled and conveyed directly to the Deputy. The authority will also forward a tabular statement of allocations to the universities and student numbers, similar to that being provided for the Institute of Technology sector, to the Deputy.

Details of the points requirements for all courses at third level dealt with the central applications office, are being forwarded to the Deputy.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

134 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will indicate the manner in which existing participation levels, population and absence of a regional university influences the allocation of resources to institutes of technology in a particular region, for example, the south east, north west, midlands and Border counties. [27348/99]

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

135 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the manner in which unit cost influences the allocation of money to an institute of technology; and if he will publish the formula used for setting allocations and developmental budgets. [27349/99]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 and 135 together.

A unit cost system of allocating funds to institutes of technology has not yet been developed.

The annual budget for each Institute is allocated on the basis of its total pay and non-pay requirements following consideration of its annual programmes and budget submission which is required under section 13 of the Regional Technical Colleges Act, 1992. The allocation takes into account the complexity of each institute, the range of courses and facilities offered to students, the total number of students, both full-time and part-time, and the nature of the infrastructure. Decisions on the allocations also have regard to Government policy and the Department's priorities.

Unit cost figures are not used for project planning purposes. Instead, indicative costs per student place are derived by using a square meter cost limit per institution and the average square meter space per student. Taking into account that space norms naturally vary from discipline to discipline an indicative cost of approximately £15,000 per student place is used in the technological sector.

The principal function of a college, under section 5 of the Regional Technical Colleges Act is to provide vocational and technical education and training for the economic, technological, scientific, commercial, industrial, social and cultural development of the State with particular reference to the region served by the college.