Gabrielle McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept what has been said. Were the issues discussed at a meeting of the board of management or the governing body? Did the college think these issues were too big, that it had so many other things on its plate and that it should move on? I have attended meetings of a board of management or a governing body. Therefore, I know that one does not move on to the next item until a matter has been sorted out. I cannot understand how the college moved on, it stated it had a lot of things on its plate, that it was overwhelmed and could not sort the matter out. From my experience, that would not have been the case. In the case of the board of which I was a member, one could not leave until a matter being discussed had been dealt with. It is shocking that this problem has lasted so long. It has been said there are assurances and that things have been put in place. We received assurances before and obviously they did not work out. What is the penalty if a matter is not dealt with properly within a proper period? Will funding be withdrawn? If that is the case, it is inappropriate because withdrawal will not affect the board, staff and management but the students, which is not right.