Teastas, the proposed national certification authority, will retain some element of control over the DIT, despite the DIT's continued resistance to such a move. E&L has learned that the revised Teastas report, a draft of which is to be presented to the Minister for Education soon, will effectively create a three-part system of which the DIT will be a part.

Under the revised report, an Irish National Certification Council will have responsibility for the skills and training sector, including FAS, Teagasc and the NCVA. A second Irish National Institute of Technology will be similar in form to the NCEA, with responsibility for the reorganised RTC sector. Each sector will be responsible for awarding qualifications, or delegating that authority to individual colleges in the case of INIT.

But Teastas will have responsibility for student mobility and quality assurance, including supervising the role of the DIT in these matters. This is likely to cause friction if, as anticipated, the DIT it is awarded university status and comes under the ambit of the HEA for funding purposes - but remains linked to Teastas in other areas.

The Minister is unlikely to make a final decision on Teastas until the new year, possibly following a proposed three-day colloquium on the issue. It is understood that the Minister is anxious to have the Teastas situation resolved.