Jonathan O'Brien
Ceist:70. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on any proposed merger between the four Dublin institutes of technology. [20750/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 8 May 2014
Ceisteanna (70)
Freagraí scríofa
In May 2013, I asked the Higher Education Authority to implement the agreed future system configuration noted by Government. This included allowing the three applicant groups of institutes of technology who had submitted a formal expression of interest to merge and to apply to become a technological university to proceed to the second stage of the four stage process, published in February 2012. The three groups of applicant institutes included a group comprising the Dublin Institute of Technology, the Institute of Technology Tallaght and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. The three institutes are now developing a detailed plan towards merger and it is expected that this will be submitted to the Higher Education Authority shortly. The plan must address how the institutes propose to meet the criteria for a technological university and the process requirements and related timelines. The establishment of a technological university requires the consolidation of two or more institutions. Accordingly, the plan must be based on a legally binding memorandum of understanding between a consortium of existing institutions describing their consolidation into a new single institution, which has been approved by the Governing Body of each institution. Following receipt of the submitted plan, the Authority will appoint a panel of experts to assess the plan. The Expert Panel will have regard to:
- the capacity of the proposed consortium to achieve the objectives of consolidation in terms of academic rationale, scale, the degree of integration through alliances and membership of clusters and the extent to which workplace practices have been developed to bring them into line with those of a modern university, and
- the existing position of the proposed consortium in relation to each of the technological university criteria and its capacity, based on its developmental trajectory, to meet these criteria within a reasonable timeframe. A decision will be provided by the HEA to the applicant within six months of receipt of the plan. If, in the opinion of this Expert Panel, the proposal is likely to meet the criteria for designation as a technological university within the proposed timeframe the applicant institutes can proceed towards full legal consolidation followed by a formal application to become a technological university.