Technical universities to ‘shake up’ third-level

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn insisted “exacting standards” would need to be shown before the any “world class” technological universities came into being.

A shake-up of higher education looks set to see the creation of new technological universities in Dublin, Cork and Waterford.

Three institutes of technology groups have expressed interest in merging and applying to become a TU.

They are the institutes in Cork and Tralee, the ones in Waterford and Carlow, and trio of Dublin, Tallaght and Blanchardstown.

The new universities would be more geared towards industrial educational needs.

Mr Quinn said the TUs would be the first new universities since Limerick and DCU attained the status in 1989.

The minister hopes to have legislation through the Oireachtas by the summer, then institutes of technology can apply merge and form TUs.

The TUs would need to have at least 45% of staff members holding a PhD and 90% with a masters degree, the new institutions must also be able to provide doctoral facilities in at least three fields.

Students’ groups have welcomed the move, though cautioned against the planned reform being used as a cover for cutbacks in the sector.

Paul Hannigan, chairperson of Institutes of Technology Ireland, said that this was not likely.

“I don’t think that would happen. What this does is allow institutes to choose whether to come together and apply for technological university status.

“So, hopefully, it should increase the quantity and quality of higher education across the country,” Mr Hannigan said.

Mr Quinn stressed that an elevation to TU status was not automatic for the institutes.

“I believe the roadmap for institutes of technology is now clear. Through mergers they can achieve the critical mass to allow them to reach the scale and level of performance required to compete on the world stage with other similar institutions.

“This is an exciting time for our higher education institutes. For the first time since the University of Limerick and DCU attained university status in 1989, the prospect of new universities is now very real.

“However, I want to stress that each of the three groups will have to meet the exacting standards as set out to become technological universities and this will be judged independently,” the minister said.

Mergers between institutes of technology must be legally binding, then an international panel will decide whether they have achieved the required educational standards or not in order to be named a TU, he added.