When it comes to investment in third level, the south-east region is losing out. As a result, it lags behind other regions economically.
So says Ray Griffin, director of Waterford IT. The fact that the region is without a university means that most of the State's £500 million annual spend on higher education bypasses the area. "Two thirds of the £500 million allocated to higher education goes to the university sector. The balance is distributed between the ITs," he says. "Given that this region has 10 per cent of the population, the ideal would be that 10 per cent of the higher education budget would come to the south east," he argues. "We're losing out on £30 million that's going into other regions and widening the gap."
Griffin denies WIT is bidding for university status. He points to the manner in which the college has traversed the binary system. Almost 45 per cent of WIT's 5,400 full-time students are taking degree programmes. "We have operated in a very unified way and have demonstrated that it is possible to manage higher education in a manner which demonstrates an equity of esteem for all higher education students and courses," he says. "We don't want to get rid of our certificate and diploma courses. We're asking for an institution which can shape its academic profile to the regional need and to the scale of the region." The present higher education funding mechanism is discriminatory, he argues. "People are demanding a university for the region because they see it as the only way of getting more of the pot. As long as the current system exists, the call for a university for the south-east will persist."
There's evidence that the gap between the south-east and other regions in the State is growing wider. Last week's news of falling levels of disposable income in the south-east region - from 92.4 per cent of the State average in 1991 to 89.4 per cent by 1997 - may have caused a bit of a stir elsewhere, but locally people know how far they are being left behind. Educators, in particular, are concerned about the link between economic performance and low thirdlevel participation rates. Although the percentage of households in the south-east which have children attending second-level school is slightly higher than the State average (12 per cent compared to 11.9 per cent), only 1.5 per cent of households have family members attending third-level colleges, according to the 1996 census.
The State average is 3 per cent. Think of the south-east region and the chances are you'll think rich rolling farmland, holiday homes and affluence. The reality, though, is somewhat different
The 1996 census paints a gloomy picture of the region, which comprises counties Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow and south Tipperary. Labour force participation is lower than the State average - 69 per cent compared with just under 72 per cent. The majority of employment is still in the older industries - agriculture, fisheries, building and production. The percentage of people working in commerce, business services, public administration and the professions is below the State average.
Similarly, the south-east region boasts a lower than average percentage of professional, managerial and salaried workers. The Irish economy has enjoyed unprecedented expansion during the last decade. However, the Forfas Enterprise 2010 report shows that in the 10 years to 1998, the numbers employed in the manufacturing industry in the south-east grew by only 11.6 per cent. The mid-east region, meanwhile, has increased employment in the same industries by almost 68 per cent, the west by 49.6 per cent and the mid-west by 36.8 per cent. Only Dublin (6.8 per cent) fared worse than Waterford.
In relative terms, too, the region's manufacturing base has also experienced setbacks over the last decade. Here, the percentage increase is just 6.4 per cent - the lowest in the State. This increase compares unfavourably with that of the west region, for example, which at 41.5 per cent has made the greatest increase. The south-east is also missing out on foreign investment. In 1989, the south-east boasted 10,384 jobs in foreign-owned enterprises. These rose to 12,457 by 1998. An increase of 19.9 per cent, certainly - but just look at the expansion in the western region, where the number of people working in foreign-owned industry grew by a whopping 58.8 per cent.
These socio-economic trends, are worrying, Griffin says. "It's my view that the disposition of the higher education budget nationally is an extremely important driver in relation to regional performance. The presence of universities in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick has provided a gravitational pull and influenced economic development."
The pressure for places in WIT has been enormous in recent years. It is now the largest provider of degree programmes in the IT sector, yet its unit costs for courses remains low.
"In terms of the pressure for entry to the institute, we are now operating on the lowest per capita cost base of any publicly funded higher education college in Ireland," Griffin asserts. "The public demand for higher education in the south-east has been felt and we have responded to it." WIT, Carlow IT and the recently opened Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute comprise the main providers of third-level courses in the south-east. Because of the relatively low uptake of third-level places by students in the region, Griffin argues that the south-east is losing up to 4,000 students annually.
"If the region had its full complement of places and if national participation rates applied here, the region would have three to four thousand more students taking third level courses."
