Mr. Paul Hannigan:

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to appear before the committee to discuss the draft general scheme of the technological universities Bill. Institutes of Technology Ireland welcomes the Minister's publication of the document as another milestone in the implementation of the national strategy for higher education. As we embark on this task, I am sure we all share the view that the overall objective should be a coherent, high-quality, vibrant and nimble higher education system which provides an excellent service to students, society and the economy at the lowest achievable cost. We have provided a written submission to the committee, some of the main points of which I will touch on in the time available to me.

There has been a substantial productivity increase in higher education institutions in recent years, with student numbers increasing by 25,000 and staff numbers reducing by approximately 2,000. On the budgetary side, in the period 2003 to 2012, real Exchequer expenditure per student in Ireland increased by 16.4% at first level and 11.6% at second level. At third level, on the other hand, there has been a decrease of 20% in real expenditure per student over the same period. On the capital side, a devolved grant to higher education institutions has not been made since 2011, which has led to a decline in campus infrastructure and core facilities for students, such as information technology equipment.

In regard to governance, we are strongly of the view that defining the reserved and executive responsibilities of the governing body and president, respectively, is a model of good institutional governance. These provisions were made in the Institutes of Technology Act 2006 and are working well in practice. We do not agree with the suggested role for an academic council, which would, in our view, compromise the roles of the governing body and president. We have concerns also about the proposal under head 55 that the Minister would have an unfettered right to impose agreements on higher education institutions to which they are not a party. Unfortunately, that practice has happened already, notwithstanding legislation to the contrary. Also under the governance heading, we are proposing that the Higher Education Authority Act, which is now 43 years old, be amended to clarify the respective functions of the authority itself and the executive staff.

A significant change we are seeking in the draft general scheme is to have all existing institutes of technology classified as designated awarding bodies. The institutes have been making their own awards for close to a decade on the basis of an authority originally delegated to them by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, HETAC, and, latterly, by its successor body, Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI. The successful operation of delegated authority over this period, which was granted to the institutes following an extensive series of external reviews, attests to the academic maturity of the sector and its unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality taught and research programmes underpinned by robust quality assurance processes which are owned by the institutes themselves. As we attempt, in line with the national strategy for higher education, to move beyond a simplistic binary notion of a higher education system towards a system of coherent, diverse and collaborating higher education institutes, HEIs, we must recognise the achievement of the institutes in the quality assurance arena and establish their awarding powers on the same footing as their fellow HEIs in order to enhance their capacity for working together.

I will conclude by asking the committee to bear the overall objective in mind when considering the draft general scheme and, at a later stage, the Bill itself. I am happy to take any questions members may have.