A compelling case for boosting funding for third-level education in the south-east was made to a major conference in Wexford this week.
The IBEC-organised event brought together business, tourism, local authority and education interests to debate investment priorities in the region, particularly in the context of the new National Development Plan.
Everything from the planned Dublin-Waterford motorway/ dual carriageway to upgrading of the waterways was up for discussion, but it was the contribution of the Waterford Institute of Technology director, Mr Ray Griffin, that left delegates with most to think about.
Mr Griffin laid out how far the region had fallen behind in third-level educational investment and its consequences: the region remained strong in traditional enterprises and agriculture but lagged behind in modern industry.
He began with a simple basis for his argument: the south-east has 10.8 per cent of the national population. By and large, he suggested, if you want to compare how the region is doing in terms of investment, that figure could be used as a yardstick. "We're winning as a region if we're doing better than 10.8 per cent, and we're losing if we're getting less."
Overall the most recent figure for State investment in higher education was £499 million. In terms of its population, the south-east should be getting £54 million of that. "The figure is nearer to £12 million," he said.
Of the 99,000 students in the State, the region would expect to have 10,700: in fact it had about 5,000. "We have to solve this issue, and I know the reasons why I can't solve it," he said. "This is something which has caused me more aggravation and personal angst than most things in my life."
The reason he could not solve it was that 64 per cent of the overall spend on higher education went to the university sector. In effect, the south-east had no representation at the table where 64 per cent of the money was distributed.
"We're competing for 36 per cent of the money, no matter how successful we are," he said. WIT had grown to where it was now a "disproportionate presence" and a problem at the 36 per cent table. "We're seen as the greedy institution taking everything at the 36 per cent table when we really shouldn't be there."
He had long since realised, he said, that it was the "kiss of death" to call for WIT to be upgraded to university status. Already it had reached the stage where it was turning students away because it could not provide the accommodation to keep pace with its growth as an institution.
Based on all the relevant criteria, including performance and size, it had already passed "one of those at the 64 per cent table", was the equal of another, and was "catching up" on a third. What was needed was for the region to devise a strategy to ensure it could compete at both tables.
There are two other third-level colleges in the region, Carlow Institute of Technology and the newly-established Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute.
But first, he said, echoing a sentiment expressed by others at the conference in various contexts, the region had to be capable of acting as a unit instead of "everybody fighting their own corner" as at present.