Are we really prepared to risk WIT for nothing more than a re-heated commitment from 2009?

At todays Waterford City & County Council Plenary meeting a motion that I had submitted in January was finally debated and passed unanimously. The motion read "That Waterford City & County Council calls on the government to clarify the funding and configuration arrangements for their proposed Technological University before dissolving Waterford Institute of Technology". However, despite the unanimous acceptance of the motion today I am not naive enough to think that all of my Council colleagues share my concerns which I outline below.

Before you point it out, yes, all of the elected TD's and Senators in the region - bar Matt Shanahan, to my knowledge - have accepted that Minister Harris has already done this and they are satisfied. And shouldn't that be enough for me. Well no, indeed it isn't. What Minister Harris has confirmed is €150m worth of capital investment for the new Technological University of the South East of Ireland (TUSEI) which, on the face of it sounds good, doesn't it. But when you drill down and it turns out that there is actually nothing new in it for Waterford then you have to start asking harder questions. Of the €150m there is €50m for a new campus in Wexford, €50m for developments in Carlow and €50m promised for Waterford for a new Engineering Building. The 'new' Engineering building that was committed to donkeys years ago, back in 2007 and pulled in 2011? (Along with a new School of Business - which has never re-emerged by the way.) Yes, that Engineering Building. So the price for us losing the number one (lest we forget it) Institute of Technology in Ireland and to tempt us into the embrace of the TU is a building that we were already promised and denied? Really? It says everything about what the government think we are worth, really. I'm not sure quite what it says about us that we are prepared to accept it.

With regard to the location of the Head Quarters of the TUSEI, is it not ironic in the extreme for Minister Harris to expect us to accept that he can't make any commitments on behalf of the future Governing Body [of the proposed TU] on the one hand, while on the other hand he commits them to a €50m campus spend in Wexford.

Essentially WIT and by extension, Waterford is getting nothing. Wexford is (allegedly) getting a new campus albeit as yet with no planning, no business plan and no faculties. And Carlow, which has been on the receiving end of the Departments largesse for the past 10 years gets another €50m for new buildings. Good for them.

Even if you were to accept this at face value, the distribution of the €150m, in one third tranches to each County is problematic. WIT is the number one provider of third level courses to students from the South East Region with Carlow in 4th position (behind UL and UCC). WIT also has a vastly more developed Research portfolio and double the staff. The Department and the Minister appear to be indicating that, despite this, it is to be treated as though it were no bigger than one third and had not achieved all that that it has. It points to how it will be treated in the future - as one third of the new TU. WIT needs to be recognised as at least 66% of the new Institution and the Waterford campus needs to be invested in to that extent. To do otherwise would be to diminish the achievements of the past 50 years and to downgrade the campus - and by extension, Waterford, the Regional Capital. The Regional Capital that the government, in their own policies - Ireland 2040, the National Planning Framework and the countless other policies that spring from them - indicate clearly needs to be properly and favourably resourced along with the other Regional Cities to provide a counter balance to Dublin and to act as an economic powerhouse for the South East Region.

The real question we need to ask ourselves is this: will the proposed Technological University give Waterford and the South East equality with the other Regional Cities? Will it provide a University of substance with the traditional suite of University courses - medicine, pharmacy, veterinary, teaching? Will it enable the South East to pull in 8.89% of Irelands investment in third level education (the equivalent of our share of the population)? I have heard nothing to indicate that it will. 

Trust us, say the TD's. Trust me says the Minister. Trust the process say the officials. Well we have seen what TD's and Ministers promises were worth when they forcefully dissolved our South East Hospitals Group, broke up the region and hived us off to Cork. The bottom line is that those promises weren't worth the breath that it took to utter them. Those promises have absolutely not been delivered to UHW and it would be irresponsible to accept similar promises regarding the TUSEI. So fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us. 

Having said all that I acknowledge that, as with previous fights, I have no power to stop this. As someone once told me "the system always wins". The juggernaut that is the TU is gaining speed and the (laughably) independent facilitator/government enforcer - appointed without process - Tom Boland will strongarm his way to an application being submitted later this month, which will without question pass the international panel and be designated next year. 

I would just caution this: those politicians and their parties who sold us the Hospital Groups paid a high price. Those TD's and Senators who are selling us the Technological University would do well to take note. They own this now. If TUSEI does not deliver a University of substance, with absolute equality with other Universities, with no loss of relative status for Waterford, including student growth and the Head Quarters of the new Institution, I would suspect that the political careers of all those cheerleading this particular cause could face the same fate. 

Finally I would say this; if the news is so good, why is the Minister steadfastly refusing to come to Waterford and defend his progeny? Why has he spoken - several times in fact - to news outlets in Wexford and Carlow/Kilkenny but will not set foot in Waterford, nor speak to our media. The Council two months ago invited him to speak to us and we have had no indication that he will do so. That the Minister will not come here is ominous. While some choose to see only good intentions, I from long experience tend to see mostly danger. Come to Waterford Minister, tell us the good news, sell it to us. God knows we have fought for a University for so long, we would love to be able to jump on board and support its delivery. The Minister and the Department could allay our fears in the morning. That they absolutely refuse to do so is instructive. If we care to see it. There are none so blind as those that will not see. 

Our Institute of Technology is a prized asset here in Waterford. Are we really prepared to risk it for nothing more than a re-heated commitment from 2009? What if we wake up on January 1st next with WIT gone, Waterfords' status fatally damaged, no Head Quarters and no added investment? It will be too late then. 

The time for answers is now.