Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee and commend them on the opening statements they have prepared, which are very helpful. I will not be able to ask all of them questions. Dr. Kennedy's contribution has caused me most concern in terms of the precarity of lecturers in third level institutions. We all agree that the quality of teaching very much dictates the success of third level institutions. I have no doubt that the quality of teaching Dr. Kennedy provides is extremely high but I am concerned that the limited quantities of pay given to a significant number of lecturers will have an effect in terms of preventing people going into the sector. Is he telling the committee that had he been a permanent member of staff, he would have got a salary of €36,369 for the work he did but because he was a part-time employee, he got less than €7,000 per year? Surely, that will have a devastating impact on trying to attract people into the sector. Does it impact on people in their 20s who decide not to go into academia?