I wish to raise the issue of a university for the south east. A number of meetings are taking place with Oireachtas Members from Waterford, the local chamber of commerce and a campaign group in Waterford. I raised this issue with the Tánaiste last week and I will repeat what I said then. It is important that this project be delivered, and I want it to be delivered as quickly as possible, but it has to be consistent with national policy and the national planning framework. Under national policy, Waterford city has to be the catalyst for economic growth. In that context, it is important that the headquarters of the new university be located in Waterford as a university city. Will the Government make a clear commitment to take this issue off the table and ensure we can return to focusing on the necessary capital investment and making the university real?

I also wish to discuss the technological university for the south east. Speaking as a proud Carlow woman, where we have two excellent institutes of technology, those being, Carlow College, St. Patrick's, and Institute of Technology Carlow, we are delighted with the proposed technological university, but we also believe that we should have the headquarters. I do not want this to be a contest between Waterford and Carlow. We must first ensure that we get the technological university, which we are told will happen in January 2022. That is huge. We should all then play our part and look for a headquarters. Like other Deputies, I will be fighting for Carlow and Kilkenny.

I am a great supporter of a technological university for the south east. One of my regrets as Taoiseach in the previous Government is that this is one of the measures we did not get over the line. I am determined that we will get it done and up and running in 2022. While I am strongly of the view that it should be centred in Waterford city and we should use some available sites there to expand the university further, it would be a shame if it got delayed or caught up in a row over where the president's office is or where the headquarters should be. One reason the Munster Technological University and Technological University Dublin have gone ahead is because of the disputes between the various campuses in the south east, which have held up the project. That is a shame. Instead of looking for reasons for rows between Carlow and Waterford and perhaps Kilkenny and Wexford, the best thing we can do for the people of the south east is to set up this technological university as soon as we can and deliver its benefits to the region.