Professor Ursula Kilkelly:

I want to briefly touch on a point Senator Ruane made about the importance of the humanities. Many of the arguments members will hear are important economic arguments relating to the relationship between third level education and our economic development, but the broader point is about the importance of universities to society and the impact on society as a whole of a diminished university in the context of our current funding crisis. That is something we need to bear in mind, and it was also recognised by Mr. Peter Cassells in regard to the contributions higher education makes.

The issue of engagement and access to the humanities is critically important. It is not just about the importance of increased sustainable funding to the humanities into the future but recognising the risks currently posed to the humanities from that lack of investment. We already have a disadvantaged humanities sector because of the lack of sustained investment. Particular areas in faculty terms are less amenable to income generation where those challenges are most acute. We see an increased burden on the student in our open days in that the focus of parents is on those areas where it is considered students are more likely to have viable and progressive employment.

This plays in to the suspicion, as it were, that a humanities qualification is less worthy in those terms. However, sustainable funding is critical for humanities in particular. That is something we need to bear in mind as an opportunity.

A point was made about the impact of reduced grants on postgraduate education. Certainly, I agree that it has had a considerable impact on the important sector of taught postgraduates. However, more generally, in the past decade or so we have seen a substantial level of hidden subvention of students in our system. This relates to those students who want to study abroad, for example, but who do not have the personal means. They are increasingly supported by us to do this. There is a major hidden issue at this level. It is particularly an issue when it comes to study abroad. This is a vital part of what we do in the internationalisation, growth and development of our students. That is another factor to bear in mind. There are many hidden areas where we cannot visibly see the impact of the funding situation on students and on the university as it uses its resources to subvent and support students and their development.