The South East Institutes of Technology (IT Carlow and Waterford IT) welcome the approval by the Minister for Education and Skills Mr Ruairi Quinn TD for the Institutes to proceed to the second stage of the process for designation as a Technological University. The Institute’s community and stakeholders welcome this vote of confidence by the Government and in particular the view expressed that the Institutes are ‘within a reasonable distance of the criteria’ detailed for Technological University status.
This is a major boost for the regions served by the Institutes; from Kildare to Wexford, and from Kilkenny to South Tipperary. This is a natural next step in the further development of the two successful institutions in Waterford and Carlow.
This University will become a key component of the infrastructure required to drive sustainable regional economic development and its scale and impact will be significant;
· It will be a regional multi-campus university and will operate campuses in Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford.
· It will have over 15,000 students and produce more than 4,500 graduates per annum to meet the needs of industry and enterprise across all disciplines including business, engineering, science and the humanities.
· It will employ over 1,300 staff and will be worth €0.25 billon to the regional economy based on an annual operating budget of €135m and estimated student spend of €85m.
· Its focus on research, development and innovation, resourced by a €25m per annum budget, will drive the creation of new knowledge and business in key economic activities such as agriculture, information technology, tourism and the environmental, biological and pharmaceutical sciences.
· The University through its multi-campus structure will support up to 100 new and emerging enterprises, as well as creating strategic working partnerships with multinational and indigenous business focussed on job creation activities.
· It will also function as a university of international reputation realising up to 800 international enrolments through existing partnerships in 35 countries across all continents.
The development is in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government for the South East and Higher Education. Both institutions look forward to engaging in the next stage of the process.
ENDS