Plea to allow AIT seek university status

A delay in the prospects of Athlone Institute of Technology seeking university status has been strongly criticised this week.

Fianna Fáil TD for Longford/Westmeath Robert Troy highlighted Minister for Education Richard Bruton's failure to bring forward the Technological Universities Bill, delaying the opportunity for Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) to make a formal application for university status. 

Deputy Troy said: “The management at AIT have made it clear that they would like to see the institute being designated as a Technological University.

“AIT is currently precluded from applying for Technological University status as the current Government policy is to demand mandatory mergers of Institutes of Technology.

“It has been suggested that AIT should merge with Dundalk Institute of Technology, but the practicalities make it impossible to do so. This has led to the bizarre situation whereby AIT is being denied university status despite already meeting all of the criteria needed to fulfil the requirements.

“The Technological Universities Bill is meant to deal with these outstanding issues but the Government has failed to progress this legislation. Accordingly AIT has been left in limbo and has been unable to plan properly for the future. This is simply unacceptable as it is restricting AIT from reaching its true potential.

“The time has come for the Minister to declare his intentions for the future of AIT and allow it to apply for university status. This cannot be allowed to be left on the backburner any longer,” concluded Deputy Troy.