Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates for outlining various issues relevant to the legislation which we will be considering next week on Committee Stage. There are a couple of issues on which I wish to hone in. I will ask my questions and the delegates may then respond. I will not revert to each of them.

Ms Godkin stated that at one point the union was looking for a teacher protection fund similar to the learner protection fund provided for in the Bill. Are the trade union staff still seeking that fund? It is probably beyond the scope of the Bill.

On the learner protection fund in general, I have serious concerns that it is a major insurance operation that has been slipped into the legislation. I wonder whether it has been fully thought through. I invite Dr. Maguire and Mr. Beausang to explain it to me. There is private insurance in that respect. Does Mr. Beausang know whether there has been a problem with the private insurance sector in that regard which leads him to believe a different system needs to be put in place? Has the private insurance market failed on this issue, leading us to require a learner protection fund operated by QQI?

Dr. Maguire has stated he does not wish this to be funded by the Exchequer, but a subsection of the Bill gives a blank cheque to QQI from the Exchequer. Section 31 proposes the insertion of a new section 66A into the original legislation. Section 31(4) provides: "The Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, may pay into the Learner Protection Fund, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, such sums as the Minister thinks appropriate". That amounts to a blank cheque. Why is it necessary if it will pay for itself? In particular, why is it necessary while there is insurance in place? Mr. Beausang may wish to outline problems with that insurance.

There is another issue which the delegates may wish to explain to me. When a protected programme default event occurs, the provider of the programme is required under the legislation to notify QQI about it within two working days. As I understand it, a default event includes an institution going bust or a person running away from his or her obligations and leaving everybody in the lurch, as we have seen happen often recently. I have joined staff and students at protests against such situations. It seems that the legislation requires such individuals to notify QQI about default events in order to get the learner protection fund up and running. Am I misreading it? Perhaps the delegates can give me some comfort in that regard as I am very worried about this issue. I know that this is the system used in Australia.

Does Dr. Maguire consider QQI to be ready for this? Does it have expertise in operating an insurance fund? If it does not, what steps is it taking to ensure it will be able to carry out this work? This is a brand new operation. I have never seen a situation where the State has taken over the role of formally providing insurance. For example, some countries operate a state mutual no-fault car insurance model whereby everybody pays into a system and the state pays out. Why is it proposed to institute a regime such as that in this area but not in the area of car insurance? There may be a very simple answer to my question and I am willing to listen to the views of the delegates, but this issue has gone under the radar. I accept that we need to do everything possible to protect the reputation of Irish education, but I am worried about this proposal. It would be very useful for Mr. King who did not make an opening statement to update the committee on his general progress and the very important work he is doing in response to these issues.