Ms Annette Dolan:

We welcome this opportunity to be here today. If there are further questions we will follow up on them. The key element of the Bill is consultation with us. The Technological Universities Act is a recent piece of legislation and technological universities are evolving from there being none two years ago to, it is to be hoped, five in the near future. Great care and attention has to be taken with this Bill to ensure it does not undermine what was enacted in the Technological Universities Act.

We require and seek interaction and consultation with the committee, and direct consultation with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on the impact the proposed changes would have on our current institutions. We respect the separate role of the Legislature, but there are agreements in place and it is important that they are maintained. Consultation is the first step.

The second issue is funding. I am certainly aware that there has been increased funding in the past three or four years in respect of higher education in this country. While that is appreciated, there were major cuts to higher education in 2008. The impact of those austerity cuts continues. Funding has not been restored. Over that period of time there has been a 35% increase in the number of students, but there has not been the same percentage increase in staff.

We note the increase in funding, but the real focus has to be increased funding for the sector. For some reason, the focus seems to be on governance. We do not think that is the key problem. Rather, the key problem is funding. We thoroughly respect the right of the Legislature to enact new legislation, but we need to be cognisant of the fact that that should be done in consultation with us and various partners.