Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Today we are meeting the chairpersons of the technological universities, TUs. On behalf of the committee I welcome Ms Josephine Feehily, Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, TUS, Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, Munster Technological University, MTU, and Dr. Patrick Prendergast, South East Technological University, SETU. Ms Maura McAnally, SC, chair of Atlantic Technological University, ATU, sends her apologies. She cannot attend due to conflicting work commitments, which is unfortunate, but she will send a written submission to the committee in the coming weeks. That submission will be uploaded to the Oireachtas website.

I thank our three witnesses for turning up today because it is very important that this committee hears from them. They are here to discuss the future funding of higher education. Before we begin, it should be noted that the committee agreed in private session on 1 March to invite the TU chairpersons, appointed in the past six months or so, before us to discuss this issue. It was agreed that this would be very valuable and a great opportunity to meet them as they embark on their new roles. Each of them corresponded with the committee prior to their appointment and it is nice to meet them in person today.

I ask members to note that the role of the chair is different from the role of the president of a TU under the provisions of the Technological Universities Act 2018. Under Schedule 2, section 14 (1) the president of a technological university "shall carry on and manage, and control generally, the academic, administrative, and financial activities of the technological university, and matters relating to its staff and perform such other functions (if any) as may be determined by, the technological university, and for those purposes shall have such powers as are necessary or expedient.". Section 9 outlines the role of the governing body of a technological university while section 12(1)(b) provides for the appointment of a chairperson who shall be "an external member, appointed by the governing body". The chairperson is responsible for leadership of the governing body and for ensuring its effectiveness in all aspects of its role. It is the chairperson's responsibility to ensure the governing body meets the objectives and complies with the requirements set out in the code of governance of each TU. With this in mind, I ask members to ensure that their questions stay within the remit of the chairpersons. The representative body for the presidents appeared before the committee previously.

The code of governance also sets out the specific responsibilities of the chairperson of the governing body. In addition to having responsibility for leadership of the board and ensuring its effectiveness in all aspects of its functions, the chairperson is also responsible for the effective management of the governing body's agenda, promoting a culture of openness and debate by facilitating the effective contribution of key management and all governing body members, ensuring the governing body receives accurate, timely and clear information, advising the Minister of the skills and competency requirements of the governing body in advance of governing body vacancies arising, and ensuring the governing body meets its annual reporting requirements.

The format of the meeting is as follows: I will invite Ms Feehily to make a brief opening statement, followed by Mr. Deenihan and Dr. Prendergast. This will be followed by questions from the committee. Each member has an eight-minute slot, including time for witnesses to respond. The committee will publish the opening statements on its web page following the meeting.