We, the undersigned, have come together out of deep concern about a recently expressed intention of TU Dublin.

As members of Ireland’s Geospatial Community and our colleagues, we express our profound concern over the decision not to offer the TU834 Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Geospatial Surveying Programme at TU Dublin to prospective students in 2024.

Since 1911, TU Dublin has been a primary gateway to those entering our profession. We recognise the strategic support TU834 provides to all corners and aspects of society where locational information is essential.

We respectfully wish to highlight that any pause in the delivery of the programme will have negative consequences for the entire geospatial industry and beyond. The current number of graduates from the programme (the only such programme in Ireland), in actuality, requires expansion - the programme needs to be nurtured to meet well-documented industrial and societal needs and attract new, high-quality entrants.

The economic impact of cutting the programme will far outweigh the cost of providing it. We are anxious that the impact of not offering the programme will resonate throughout the entire land, property, and construction sectors.  

We strongly urge you to reverse TU Dublin’s decision to remove the programme from the CAO choices in 2024. This decision would eliminate a path for a good education with excellent employment prospects - industry and society need all the graduates that TU834 can produce over the coming years.  

We strongly advocate the programme's continuance while simultaneously exploring additional entrance routes into the discipline - the need for geospatial graduates has never been greater.