Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Love's talents are very honourable. We consider Ireland to be the island of saints and scholars. While I do not know about the saints, it is important that the scholarly ambition be retained.

On Mr. Ó Foghlú's statement, every bit of the report is about accountability and governance. It includes lines such as, "The introduction of a new governance framework for the higher education system in 2015 ... to provide assurance of compliance with legislative and other requirements." It goes on: "The review of the allocation model for funding higher education institutions, undertaken by the HEA ... will provide greater transparency in how State investment in higher education is being allocated," and "The Department works closely with the HEA to strengthen governance arrangements and ensure a robust system of accountability in the sector." It is all about accountability and governance. Have we had a creaking system in place up to now? Was the system broken when this five or six page report which is all about new rules and regulations and proposed plans was compiled? What was wrong with the system up until now that we had to look at reviewing all of this? Where did it fall down during the years in the Department of Education and Skills and the Higher Education Authority?