Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 15, line 31, to delete "value-for-money from" and substitute "value for money in".

Amendments Nos. 11, 21 and 200 are in my name. I do not think they are controversial and I will take the Deputies through them. Amendment No. 11 is a technical amendment to align the wording of section 8(1)(c) with section 9(1)(c). We are changing the word "from" to the word "in".

Amendment No. 20 amends section 9(1)(c) to "secure and evidence value for money in the expenditure by An tÚdarás of moneys provided to it under section 19". The previous subsection had provided that the HEA should "secure and evidence value-for-money in the expenditure of public moneys in higher education allocated to funded bodies" but this amends that provision to provide that the HEA is required to "secure and evidence value for money in the expenditure", so it strengthens what we were originally planning to do.

Amendment No. 31 includes a new provision to "assess the performance of funded bodies with regard to securing value for money in the expenditure of funding provided to them by An tÚdarás under this Act". This is a new provision to replace the old section 9(1)(c) to provide that the HEA can assess the performance of funded bodies with regard to securing value for money in the expenditure funding provided to them by the HEA. Amendment No. 200 is simply a consequential amendment reflecting the new provisions in section 9.

The other amendments in this grouping are from Deputies Conway-Walsh and Ó Cathasaigh, namely, Nos. 12, 21, 28 and 29. They are similar to some of my amendments but they are seeking to provide accountability and transparency in the use of funding under the Act. I would argue that amendments Nos. 11, 20 and 31, which I am introducing today, provide for accountability and transparency and we have strengthened the original Bill as published. It should also be noted that the designated institutions of higher education are fully accountable for the use of the funding provided under this Act in accordance with Part 3, Chapter 2, sections 37 to 42, inclusive, of the Bill, which provide for the provision of funding, conditions for funding, compliance with the conditions of funding and remedial and other measures. We will get to a section on autonomy later in the Bill and we have been clear that while institutions are autonomous, they also have to be accountable for funding. The idea that conditions of funding can be attached is an important development on Part 3, Chapter 2 of the Bill. Section 63 of the Bill, which is the section on the accounts of certain higher education providers and the provisions on the keeping and auditing of accounts in the sectoral legislation, also provides a significant degree of accountability for the use of Exchequer funding. It is in light of the amendments I am bringing forward today and the provisions we have put into this new Bill in section 63 and in Part 3, Chapter 2, that we are addressing and strengthening accountability in the Bill. Therefore, at this stage I do not propose to accept amendments Nos. 12, 21, 28 or 29.