Madam, - My friends in UCC are in quite a tizzy about the proposed new University of Limerick Medical School.
They say (Health Supplement, September 21st) that it "will require the development of new departments and new facilities at much greater expense than would be required to develop already existing facilities at UCC".
Even at a distance of more than 60 miles they appear to have a point. The iron logic of value for money is often compelling.
Except that such iron logic doesn't hinder UCC's own ambitions. Three years ago it launched a degree in chemical engineering in direct competition with a well established degree course (25 years, 500 graduates) being offered not 60 miles away, but one mile away at the Cork Institute of Technology.
Clearly this development "will require the development of new departments and new facilities at much greater expense than would be required to develop already existing facilities at" CIT. And that's not just my opinion. They are looking for capital funding of €3 million for this facility!
Maybe someone in UCC will explain the difference; or perhaps your ever vigilant Education Correspondent might ask them. - Yours, etc.,
Senator BRENDAN RYAN, Seanad Éireann, Dublin 2.