Ms Joan Donegan:

The real concern of academics is about funding and the connection with business interests as well as policymaking and direction from the Government and that courses and the direction of the university will in some way be aligned to business interests and not the concepts and other issues to do with new thinking within the university sector. We see it particularly in research where that search for new knowledge is not happening. I have just skated over the employment conditions for young researchers coming into universities. Because of the shortage of funding we find that there is a race to try to get external funding. It is very competitive and there is a particular direction with regard to business interests where our researchers are finding that is the only way they can get funded. Those researchers who are on precarious contracts cannot even apply for research funding.

Researchers cannot get involved in this blue skies research or our new research. Our academics in universities who are involved in humanities, the social sciences and the arts are again limited in what they can do because of funding but also because of the direction from Government with regard to that alignment with business interests.