Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The letter says that the Department has a central oversight role and that the HEA is monitoring governance practices. The Department has asked the HEA to arrange a study of this. The terms of reference are being finalised and the Department will be updated in due course. The Department has stated that when it gets the information from Waterford, which we have mentioned, and when it gets the aforementioned HEA study, the terms of reference of which have not yet been agreed, it will examine all of that. When it has completed its consideration of all of that, it will advise the Minister on what to do next. That sounds like it will take years. Potentially, it could be a long way away from where it started. This issue is being parked.