Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand that. It is like being ambushed in a sense. I do not wish to do that. If I just stay general for a moment and then I will ask my three or four specific questions. I have noticed over recent engagements that we are dragging things out of institutions. The HEA is reliant on the institutions to be more or less self-managing. We have all these independent outsiders coming in, such as EY. At the same time, every single third level institution tells us that it has no money. We need money for all these third level institutions.

For me, the worst thing, and the most worrying thing, is the blurring of the boundary between industry and education. It is jumping out. A question was asked earlier in respect of some company, the name of which I did not quite catch. One of my colleagues asked whether it paid rent, as they were based on the campus. The answer was vague, that it does not pay rent because it is not really based there. They pay dividends. The National University of Ireland, Galway, which is not here today, has a foundation which operates from an office in the university but which does not pay rent. There is all this language around the situation being very good for the institutions. In the guise of education, we are being told what is good for us with very little accountability. Regarding the two institutions here today, I presume there are no foundations or trusts in question. Is that right?