Griffith case may set tough precedent

Last week in the High Court, Mr Justice Geoghegan set the cat among the Department of Education and Science pigeons and raised hopes in the private third-level sector.

The judge told the Minister that he must make a decision on Griffith College's tender to provide extra places for computer science students. It was in the spring of last year, against the background of a skills shortage which threatened the future of inward investment, that the Government announced its decision to create 1,000 new software places at degree level and 750 technician places. Colleges were invited to tender to supply these courses.

In April 1997, Dermot Hegarty, chairman of Griffith College, received a letter from the HEA enquiring whether the college intended submitting a proposal in response to the skills initiative aimed at increasing the number of computer software engineering graduates. Griffith College subsequently sent in a bid to provide 100 software places at a cost of £2,950 per annum each over two years, with employers picking up the tab for the final two years of the programme. However, according to the Griffith College chairman, a report of the HEA indicated that Griffith College was the only private college able to provide an appropriate software programme.

The HEA also noted that the public funding of students admitted to Griffith College under the skills initiative "is a major policy issue which must be resolved before a recommendation can be made on this proposal".

Discussions between the Department and the college ensued and went on for a year, Hegarty says. Finally the Department turned down the Griffith College tender, citing concern that acceptance of the bid would create a precedent in the application of free fees for all private colleges students. Griffith College decided to opt for judicial intervention. Last week, in the High Court, Justice Geoghegan said: "It seems to me that this was not legitimate, having set up the scheme and having invited colleges such as Griffith College to apply to then turn around and say `You are not eligible on that ground' . . . The matter now has to go back to the Minister to be reconsidered by the Minister on a proper basis and on proper terms." The judge stressed that his decision was based on the particular skills initiative only. "I am not making any decision that could be relied on in any way as suggesting that private colleges generally are entitled to be funded."

A related concern facing the Department is the fact that an action taken by Portobello College, claiming that the exclusion of the private colleges from the free fees scheme is unconstitutional, is expected to be heard in the High Court later this year. While the judge's comments may give the Department heart, the private colleges are eagerly awaiting the Minister's decision. "If the Minister comes back and says he is not going to include Griffith College in the skills initiative, he will have to say why. "If he says it is because the college is privately owned it could help our case, which would be very difficult for him," argues Portobello's Guy Flouche.

Griffith College offers NCEA-validated computer science programmes at undergraduate, masters and post-graduate diploma level. Hegarty says if the Minister makes a quick decision in Griffith's favour, the college could take in extra students in October. "I hope that we will be given the opportunity to contribute to the solution of the skills-shortage problem in a highly cost effective way," he says. According to a spokesperson for the Department, the target of 1,000 degree places and 750 technician places has yet to be reached. All the universities have admitted students to degree programmes under the scheme, as have the DIT and the institutes of technology in Athlone, Cork, Galway, Tallaght and Waterford.