Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 December 2025
1094. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science following his announcement that professorships roles will be part of TU, the number professorships available, by each TU; the percentage of professorships that will be available across all TUs, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69799/25]
View answerOn 2nd December, I secured cabinet support and subsequently announced a targeted investment of €65.8m for the technological sector and publicly funded specialist colleges under the
Targeted Enhancement Fund (TEF). The fund is managed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of my department.
The investment will be used by higher education institutions to advance digital transformation and business intelligence, support student success and engagement, increase professional development opportunities for staff, and support the attainment of Climate Action targets including monitoring of and reporting on Climate Action Roadmaps.
Additionally, the fund will be utilised to support collaborative activities including the development of solutions to enhance academic integrity, enhance TU data infrastructure and business intelligence and prepare for further developments in AI.
I was also very pleased to announce that this fund is the mechanism through which Technological Universities will gain the capacity to appoint Professorial grades. This is a critical step in their alignment with the 'traditional' university sectors and to support the enhanced research and innovation mission of TU's, enabling competitiveness regionally, nationally and internationally. My officials and I are working closely with colleagues across government to finalise the process for approvals for professors in the sector. I am confident that this will be completed in the coming weeks and will then be in a position to provide further details.
Allocated TEF for relevant HEIs as per the table below:
|
|
TEF Proposed Allocations |
|
Institution |
Proposed Allocation |
|
ATU |
€10,500,000.00 |
|
DkIT |
€4,200,000.00 |
|
IADT |
€5,000,000.00 |
|
MTU |
€6,300,000.00 |
|
SETU |
€12,000,000.00 |
|
TU Dublin |
€10,000,000.00 |
|
TUS |
€6,300,000.00 |
|
MIC |
€1,500,000.00 |
|
NCAD |
€4,500,000.00 |
|
CP:1 Enhancing Data Infrastructure |
€4,500,000.00 |
|
CP2: Academic Integrity Project |
€1,000,000.00 |
|
|
€65,800,000.00 |
