Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Horgan and thank him for his presentation.

The previous chief executive, Mr. Tom Boland, retired in July. I believe his replacement announced that she would only be staying on for a few months. It is a key position. Is Mr. Horgan aware of plans to fill it?

The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, appeared before the committee a few weeks ago to brief us on the mid-year expenditure review. The reference to the early payment of grants to universities and institutes of technology is worrying. Were grants paid earlier because they were under water? Were they paid early because the institutions were running out of money and reaching insolvency? Does Mr. Horgan have a handle on the overall scale of problem with their cash flows?

I believe the last real benchmark report on third level institutions was produced in 2013 and indicated a significant decline. I know that we have had some quantitative and qualitative data since. When will the HEA produce the next benchmark report to measure accurately the impacts on third level education in the past few years?

I raise the question of gender. When I was preparing for this meeting, I learned on the HEA's website that in Ireland 81% of professional positions were held by men. While women comprised 62% of non-academic staff, men comprised 72% of the highest paid. While there are four female presidents of institutes of technology, there has never been a female president of a university in the Republic. Recent media reports indicate that some institutes are struggling in meeting the challenge of gender equality. I welcome the strides made in some colleges. DCU recently renamed a significant number of buildings after accomplished women. Because of initiatives such as Athena and Swan, 50% of candidates who are short-listed must be female. What has the HEA learned to date in this regard and is there more that could be done?