The Universities Act, 1997 contains a provision for universities to borrow within a framework agreed with the Higher Education Authority. This framework, which was agreed with my Department and the now Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, has been in operation for many years. A similar provision to allow Institutes of Technology to borrow is contained in the Institutes of Technology Act, 2006, however this provision has not been enacted. As the Deputy may be aware, universities are classified as outside General Government for Eurostat purposes, while Institutes of Technology are classified as within General Government. This arises primarily from the difference in funding sources in the two sectors, with the university sector raising a greater proportion of income from non-State sources. As the Deputy will appreciate, the recent economic crisis and continuing constraints on Government as a result of EU fiscal rules on expenditure and debt levels has to date prevented the agreement of a borrowing framework for Institutes of Technology. However, this situation is being kept under review and will be considered as part of broader deliberations arising from the report of the Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education.
