Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that I had to step out. It is one of the vagaries of the system. It is cracked, really. I thank the witnesses for coming in. I apologise if they have already addressed my questions. One of the issues I come across with academics, particularly younger ones, is fixed-term and part-time contracts and security of tenure, which is affecting the quality of the work and the departments. Where should we be going with the future funding model? My fear is that we are going towards the corporate model of education which will push for more of these types of contracts rather than having permanent staff in departments.

Is the assault on the arts really happening? Is most of the funding and focus of the universities going to subjects where the biggest industry financial input can be given? Is funding for the arts in the colleges being decreased?

How significant an issue is it that students are picking the wrong courses and how big an impact has the lack of career guidance at second level had on it? Are people trying to get on a certain pathway into work by doing a degree which is easier to get through given that it will get them to where they need to go, and then doing a postgraduate course? Are people, for example, going on to primary teaching having done the wrong basic course in which they did not have a fundamental interest?

How have the cutbacks associated with austerity affected gender equality in the colleges? I am aware of major issues in NUI Galway. Is it totally separate from the funding model, or is the funding model having an impact on these issues?

Earlier, I asked about the non-academic spend in colleges. When people look for lab equipment, money is very scarce. However, when there is a legal case to be fought, there seem to be buckets of money to back up the colleges. If an internal inquiry needs to be done, there seems to be a lot of money available to do it in some colleges, while the funding available for academic elements in the colleges is always scarce.