PART II

Establishment and Identity of Universities

7. —(1) The constituent colleges shall, by virtue of this section, become and be universities, and each college named in column 1 of the Second Schedule shall be known by the corresponding name in the English language or in the Irish language in column 2 of that Schedule opposite to the name mentioned in column 1.

(2) The universities as constituted by subsection (1) shall be constituent universities of the National University of Ireland and references to “college” or “constituent college” in the Irish Universities Act, 1908 or in the charter of the National University of Ireland, or in the charters of those constituent colleges, shall be construed as references to those constituent universities as constituted from time to time.

(3) A reference to a constituent college in any other Act or in a statutory instrument made under an Act, or in the memorandum or articles of association of any company or any other legal document, shall be construed as a reference to the corresponding constituent university referred to in subsection (1) as constituted from time to time.

(4) Where immediately before the commencement of this Part any legal proceedings in relation to a constituent college were pending to which the constituent college was party, the name of the corresponding constituent university shall on that commencement be substituted in the proceedings for the name of the constituent college, and the proceedings shall not abate by reason of the substitution.

8. —(1) If An tÚdarás considers that an educational institution or part of an educational institution should form part of a university, the Minister may by order made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, the institution concerned and the governing authority of the university, provide that the institution or part shall become and form part of the university, and on the making of the order it shall be so incorporated.

(2) The Minister shall not make an order under subsection (1) unless the Minister has first caused to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas a draft of the proposed order and a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by both Houses.

(3) Subsections (3) to (6) of section 44 shall apply to the staff of an institution who immediately before the incorporation provided for in subsection (1) were employees of the institution and who become employees of the university on such incorporation, in the same way as they apply to persons employed by St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.

9. —(1) The Government may, at any time, appoint a body, the membership of which shall be recommended by An tÚdarás and shall include international experts and national experts, including employees of universities to which this Act applies, to advise An tÚdarás on whether, having regard to the objects and functions of a university under sections 12 and 13 , an educational institution should be established as a university.

(2) On the advice of the body and the recommendation of An tÚdarás, but subject to subsection (3), the Government may, by order, provide that the institution shall be a university for the purposes of this Act and, on the making of the order, it shall be established accordingly.

(3) The Government shall not make an order under subsection (2) unless it has first caused to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas a draft of the proposed order and a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by both Houses.

(4) A university established under subsection (2) shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and have power to sue and may be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land or any other property.

10. —(1) The Minister may, at the request of the governing authority of a university, and in the case of a constituent university with the consent of the Senate, by order, change the name of the university.

(2) A reference in any Act, statutory instrument made under an Act or legal or other document to a university by its name applying before it was changed under subsection (1) shall be construed as a reference to that university as so renamed.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and section 7 (1), a constituent university may extend its name in such manner as it considers appropriate to indicate that it is the successor to its corresponding constituent college.

11. —(1) Section 2 of the Dublin City University Act, 1989, is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the deletion of “and shall perform the functions assigned to it by the Act of 1980 as amended by this Act”; and

(b) by the insertion of the following after subsection (1):

“(1A) The University is and shall continue to be the body corporate of that name in existence immediately before the commencement of section 6 of the Universities Act, 1997, with the same perpetual succession, power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land and any other property, as it then had.”.

(2) Section 2 of the University of Limerick Act, 1989 , is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the deletion of “and shall perform the functions assigned to it by the Act of 1980 as amended by this Act”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following after subsection (1):

“(1A) The University is and shall continue to be the body corporate of that name in existence immediately before the commencement of section 6 of the Universities Act, 1997, with the same perpetual succession, power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land and any other property, as it then had.”.