Galway Bay fm newsroom - Education Minister, Richard Bruton is due to announce Government approval today to progress the Technological Universities Bill.
Part of the bill provides new ministerial power to appoint an investigator to a publicly funded higher education institution such as NUI Galway.
The bill, which is at committee stage in the Oireachtas, comes as universities are facing increasing pressure to declare all funds available for the benefit of the colleges.
Currently, the Education Minister only has the power to appoint a 'visitor' to institutions where concerns have been raised about governance.
It was recently revealed that Galway University Foundation has 57 million euro in assets, but colleges are not obliged to declare funds in private trusts.
The Technological Universities Bill also proposes the merger of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, IT Sligo and Letterkenny IT as part of the Connacht Ulster Alliance.
