Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Some of the stuff has been more than disappointing; it has been outrageous. We cannot have that going on. We cannot have that going forward. There has been a culture change in the higher education institutions, which is welcomed by virtue of what we have seen in this room and others in this precinct. That is a good thing. It is good the institutions are held to account. However, I also believe that the vast majority of public moneys going through universities are properly spent and properly accounted for. I hate to think that we would cast an aspersion on everybody. The vast majority of our university staff, of our executives, and of our governing authorities and university presidents get up in the morning to do right by the public purse. There have been a number of high-profile incidents that have been totally unacceptable. These are being investigated. In the round, however, the Act has allowed us to do things we were not able to do before and if we need to strengthen it we will strengthen it.