WIT Press Release
Title: CSO figures reinforce pressing need for University of the South East
Release date: Thu, Jun 28, 2007
The final results of Census 2006 released by the Central Statistics Office today (June 28) again underline the case for Waterford Institute of Technology being re-designated as University of the South East.
That’s according to Redmond O’Donoghue who chairs the Institute’s Governing Body which made a submission to Government in February 2006 seeking university designation - a bid currently under review by Dr Jim Port.
The report, 2006 Census of Population - Principal Socio-Economic Results, shows that while the overall unemployment rate nationally was 8.5 per cent, the equivalent figure for Waterford city was 12.6 per cent - the third highest rate in the country.
Waterford city also contains six of the country’s 62 employment ‘blackspots’ with the unemployment rate in these areas averaging 23.6 per cent. At 11.4 per cent, the proportion of persons in Waterford classified to socioeconomic group A (Employers and Managers) was the third lowest in the country.
The CSO data released today also showed that 527,775 people aged 15 years and over in April 2006 held third level qualifications at degree or postgraduate level. Disproportionately few of this group live in the southeast.
"The census figures remind us forcefully of the reality that the higher the educational level attained the less likely the risk of unemployment. Progression from primary education through secondary to third level results in a clear pattern of decreasing risk of unemployment that the CSO track in their data," the Institute chairman remarked.
"For instance, the risk of unemployment is nearly five times higher for a person with only a primary education than for someone who has completed a third level course at degree level or higher. In Waterford city and county, only just over 12.6 per cent (10,805 of 85,544 people) of those aged 15 and over have a third level qualification of degree level or higher. This compares to 59.7 per cent who did not go beyond primary or secondary education.
"A similar picture emerges elsewhere in the southeast where the lack of accessible university education continues to impact negatively. In South Tipperary, there were 65,693 people aged 15 and over when the census was conducted but just 6,616 (10.07 per cent) had completed third level education to degree level or higher. In Wexford, the equivalent figure was 10,338 from 102,511 people (10.08 per cent); in Carlow, 4,307 from 39,779 (10.83 per cent) and in Kilkenny, 8,651 from 68,705 (12.59 per cent). The southeast regional rate of 11.2 per cent compares unfavourably to 15.6 per cent nationally and 21.3 per cent in the economic powerhouse of Dublin."
Mr O’Donoghue added, "We are now advised that Dr Port’s report is expected to be received 'shortly' by Minister Hanafin. It is to be hoped that the report is acted on without any undue delay and that the stark anomaly where the southeast is required to compete on an unlevel playing field will not be allowed continue for a day longer than is necessary. We have recently seen a great vision for how Waterford can develop as a true gateway to the southeast set out in Project 2014. University designation is central to achieving the goals in that ambitious but achievable seven-year plan."
