Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think what Mr. McCarthy has just read out smacks of the arrogance of the institution. It is as if it is asking why it should bother with what the national Parliament and Government have set down and saying it knows more than them and will set its own rules. If the HEA and Department of Education and Skills are before us any time soon, the president of UCD will have to be here as well to explain the policy and why he has decided arbitrarily to pick and choose what he will and will not do regarding public money. I find it absolutely unbelievable that the president of an institution that is funded pretty much entirely by the State would decide in an arbitrary way that he will not comply with rules that are set down by the Oireachtas. I just find that absolutely staggering and I would like to see him appear before the committee to explain himself to us.