Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

I think there is a good working relationship. We have achieved a lot together. Dr. Love referred to issues where there might have been legislative lacunae. We are seeking to address them. It is not that the HEA and the Department have been arguing. I can think of quite a number of aspects that have been advanced significantly in recent years through co-operation between the HEA and the Department.

A very good example of that is the technological universities and the Dublin Technological University. When the legislation was passed the HEA went out of its way to ensure that an independent process would be put in place very quickly while the Minister of State in the Department is encouraging all of the institutions to come together, appropriately, to serve these and to establish technological universities. The HEA has to be independent in its role. It undertook its role independently and speedily and that led to the designation of the first technological university. That is just one example of good co-operation and reflecting respective roles.