Professor Vincent Cunnane:

I thank the Deputy. Perhaps I will ask Professor Cusack to comment just after I say a few words, if that is acceptable. She may comment on funding. She is new in the system so she is used to a better-funded system. Therefore, she may have some parallels to bring into play.

People want to have definitive outcomes from Covid at a point where we are really just living with it. It is a little dangerous to make profound statements on what will happen in the future. There are definitely many learnings. On teaching and learning, the way that we were able to move to an online environment, or to remote emergency teaching, as we have been calling it here, was incredible.

It was backed up by good IT systems and we have learned a great deal. We want to capture the very best of that and ensure that the lessons become part of what happens in future.

It has been less than a year since we moved into this space. Students have learned to deal with it, but would they want to do it this way for the long term? The sense of place, student experience and collegiality is missing. We are able to deal with the learning side. We provide learning environments and we teach. The students get learning outcomes, which we can test. We have adapted everything to that. However, what about the rounding of the individual and the soft skills that industry asks for so much? None of us would say that we have learned from this situation and that its lesson will last for years. We must be careful. I am already hearing rumblings from the Department asking why we need lecture theatres if we have all gone electronic. That is loose talk, but we must think about this issue deeply. It is giving us an opportunity. We have not been able to reflect yet; reflection can only come when we are out of the crisis. We are still in crisis management mode. We want to get back so that our students can complete their necessary face-to-face practice. I have no idea what "normal" is, but we will work out what is best for our students and staff.

Turning to the issue of engagement disadvantage, I have been before this committee a number of times. We do not get praise for what we do on a daily basis. We are access institutions. Consider the report showing the Higher Education Authority, HEA's statistics on spatial and socioeconomic profiles. This is our job and we do it every day. We provide opportunities to those from non-traditional backgrounds, for example, first generation students, who would benefit from them. We take pride in this. If the evolution of technological universities meant that we had to abandon those student cohorts, none of us would have stepped up to the mark and left people behind in order to get technological university status. Our journey must take everyone with us. I might have been emotional on the issue of funding, but the committee should hear me talk about disadvantage.

I will hand over to Professor Cusack. Mr. Hannigan might wish to contribute as well.