I welcome the Minister to the House to hear my views on why Cork regional technical college must immediately be upgraded to institute of technology status. I regret that we are discussing this issue. Following the protest outside the Department of Education last Monday, it is clear that the staff of the regional technical college and the business people and the community at large in Cork are fully behind the students in their endeavour to ensure that the college is upgraded.
The Minister for Education, Deputy Bhreathnach, announced she would set up an expert group to monitor, adjudicate and lay down the criteria for the future upgrading of regional technical colleges to institute of technology status. However, that is a political smokescreen because a lot of pressure has been applied to Government Deputies and the Minister to ensure Cork regional technical college is upgraded. If the Minister can, at the stroke of a pen, upgrade Waterford regional technical college to gain political advantage, I see no reason why she cannot upgrade Cork regional technical college, not for political reasons but because it deserves it, it warrants it and the city needs it. Not only that, but the business community is fully integrated in providing support for the college and employing graduates.
If one looks at the criteria, there is no doubt that Cork regional technical college should have been upgraded before Waterford regional technical college. I do not begrudge Waterford its upgrading but there should be a level playing pitch. The basic requirements of education today are that students should be given the greatest degree of flexibility in their degree courses and allowed the time and support to go into the workplace. Cork regional technical college has given this to its students. Considering the investment that businesses have made in the college and the dedication of its staff, there is no reason why the Government should delay its upgrading.
The college offers numerous degree, diploma and masters courses. Some 4,500 full-time and 6,500 part-time students currently attend the college. It is everything a national institute of technology would be, except that it does not have the name. If it is not upgraded immediately I fear people will consider it a lesser college than the institutes of technology in Dublin and Waterford. For that reason alone, the Minister must immediately upgrade it.
Over the last few years Cork regional technical college has made numerous applications to the Department of Education to be upgraded, not because it wants the name but because it deserves it. I have already indicated the determination and dedication of the lecturing staff and the quality of students coming from the college. Most of the courses have a 100 per cent employment placement record, even before the students are fully qualified. This demonstrates that the Minister should immediately accede to the request made by the students and staff of the college, Cork Chamber of Commerce, Cork Corporation, the city's Lord Mayor and Government Deputies. If it is not upgraded in the short term, this campaign will not go away.
The Minister has put herself in a difficult position. It was annoying that, for solely political purposes, she announced the upgrading of Waterford regional technical college just prior to the Taoiseach's visit to the city. Cork regional technical college applied for upgrading at the same time as Waterford regional technical college. It is a larger college, it offers more degree courses, it has met all the criteria satisfied by Waterford, along with many more. If Waterford is being upgraded the Government should immediately do the same for Cork so that its status is not undermined and students who leave the college this year and in future years will have degrees from the CIT, the Cork Institute of Technology.
There is no reason why the college should not be upgraded. The Minister is obviously afraid that other regional technical colleges will also apply for an upgraded status, but if that happens let them be judged on their merits. The leading regional technical college in the country should have been the first to be upgraded and the others should have tried to follow the achievements of Cork over the years.
The protests outside the Department make it plain that the students are serious about this— 3,000 of them would not have travelled from Cork to voice their opinion if they were not. For the sake of the students, the staff, those placing graduates in employment and providing valuable jobs in the area, and the economics of the city, I urge the Minister to upgrade the college. Otherwise Cork will suffer in many ways. Students may opt to go not to Cork regional technical college but to universities in Dublin, the Dublin Institute of Technology or the new Waterford Institute of Technology.
There is no need to worry about educational drifting as regards Cork regional technical college. This can be seen in the statistics available from the students union, the staff and the governing body, all of whom have met the Minister. The biggest problem for Cork regional technical college at present is that its courses have higher points criteria that similar courses in other regional technical colleges. It has a shortage of spaces because it has so many applicants. If we are to downgrade Cork regional technical college, as this Government is doing by not granting it the status it requests and deserves, students will no longer accept a place there and will try to go to Waterford or Dublin. The south-west region will be deprived of students as they will insist on travelling. A great deal of money has been invested in the college and its staff are highly qualified. I urge the Minister of State to impress on her party colleague the urgency of this matter. Let the students get on with the job of furthering their education so they can enter the workplace as graduates not of Cork regional technical college but the Cork Institute of Technology.
