A PROPOSAL to upgrade the Dublin Institute of Technology to university status is among the 138 amendments proposed by Fianna Fail to the Universities Bill.
Fianna Fail's spokesman on education, Mr Micheal Martin, said the DIT's case for university status was "very persuasive" and did not deserve the "dismissive attitude" the Minister had adopted to it.
The DIT, which comprises six colleges in Dublin, has been pressing for university status since a review group, appointed by the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, recommended that degree-awarding powers be extended to the DIT and suggested that the Universities Bill be examined with a view to including the DIT in its provisions. The DIT's degrees are currently awarded by Trinity College Dublin.