Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Horgan. I am conscious that he is the chairperson designate; he is not the chairperson or CEO. He will not be the CEO so I will not test him on his knowledge. What is of interest is his CV and his overall philosophy of education, in particular on higher education.

The question of funding is at the root of everything at the moment. We have had a major political debate in recent weeks and I hope we succeeded in making a start and introducing change. What is Mr. Horgan’s view of excellence in education, in third level education in particular? In recent years the major universities in this country have gone down the rankings and that is rightly partially blamed on the funding model and the lack of funding. What can we do to improve that and is it a target of Mr. Horgan that we would have universities at the top level and then that there would be other universities and institutes of technology, which are all doing a particular job?

The Oireachtas has not finalised its position on the Technological Universities Bill. It seems to me that there are arguments for and against it. Some of the arguments against it relate to the fact that it was initially conceived from a cost-cutting point of view on foot of the famous McCarthy report and an bord snip nua back in 2009. I know the situation has moved on since then but that is where it started. One argument I have heard is that if that is the only reason, then why do it. Some of the colleges that are part of the proposal on technological universities are very much rooted in local communities and people see it as being very important to keep a certain college in a locality because it serves an area where it is needed. Where does Mr. Horgan see the Higher Education Authority, HEA, in that space at the moment where there are arguments for and against and the Bill has not gone through the Oireachtas? In the past year, considerable funding was provided to pursue the model despite the lack of legislation.

That is all I have to say at the moment. If there is time I might come back in at the end given that there are not too many members present.