As the Deputy may be aware, the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin represents a constituent part of Trinity College. The position is that universities are autonomous institutions in relation to the day to day management of their affairs. The universities receive a recurrent block grant from the Higher Education Authority and it is a matter for each institution to determine how it is allocated internally.
In the case of the Centre for Deaf Studies, I understand from the HEA that, in recent years, Trinity College requested and received specific funding for the Centre as part of their overall recurrent block grant. Trinity College again made a request to the HEA for specific funding, amounting to some €440,000, for the Centre for 2009. This funding request has been agreed to by the HEA for 2009.