Ms Clare Austick:

I support the previous speaker's comments on staff representation and engagement. USI strongly supports that call. It is important to raise the opportunity for member of the NCADSU being recognised as eligible to become student representatives on the board here. Students must be empowered to be able to voice concerns if they are having difficulty with college courses, lectures, core structures or timetables. Student voice, engagement and representation is all about empowering students to come forward and address the issues and to know the processes and procedures that are in place to deal with those situations. The process is about empowering the student voice and being at the centre to ensure that student representatives can raise issues, if there are any, but also that the HEA -an t-údaras - has a monitoring ability to be able to examine how higher education institutes are performing across the country while also supporting and respecting the autonomy of higher education institutes. The increased monitoring and oversight of the HEA - an t-údaras - to ensure a standardised approach across the board and that any student, regardless of where they are in the country, has access to a high-quality education experience, and not only in an academic sense.