Madam, - We are indebted to Prof John Hegarty, Provost of Trinity College, for his description of the underfunding of the universities for the past 10 years and how this has hampered their core operation of teaching and learning. To make matters worse he considers that the recent National Development Plan will do nothing to remedy this deficit.
The response of Minister Mary Hanafin is revealing - in fact it more or less proves Prof Hegarty's point. There is money available to the universities, but not if they continue to do things as they have done in the past and they must compete for this money with their peers.
How does one compete in the world of teaching and learning? How does Ms Hanafin's policy develop and expand third-level education? Her policy seems to be aimed at fourth-level research. Is everything to be sacrificed to the god of economic growth? - Yours, etc,
TOM RYAN, Leoville, Dunmore Road, Waterford.