Ms Mary Doyle:

It is a broad canvas and we might share some of the responses. One key theme emerging from all of the questions is that of increased numbers and reduced funding. If we take a minute to reflect on what has happened over the past couple of years, we will see there has been a significant reduction in the funding envelope for higher education and a significant increase in numbers attending colleges. There has been quite an improvement in productivity but the reality is that it will not be enough. Given the twin pressures of reduced funding and increased demand, more must be done to close the gap. As Mr. Boland stated, we are putting in place a systemic review of issues relating to sustainability in this area, which will give us a basis on which to move forward. That, if you like, is a third leg of the reform programme as we have it. Much work has been done in this area but more needs to be done. We need to focus in particular on the key question: how do we ensure that the likely funding reduction from the Exchequer, coupled with demand, can be met without compromising quality? It is a big question. It is a big issue on which we must make decisions.

There are a number of measures that can be taken with fairly immediate effect, such as examining duplication of courses and whether courses could be provided more sensibly and more efficiently in particular locations.

There are important issues with regard to shared services. It is not a magic bullet but we think there is significant potential within the higher education sector that has not been tapped. We are looking at areas such as HR, finance and IT to try to do not only more with less but better with less. There is a strong agenda in that regard.

Another element of what needs to be brought into play here, which is a theme which has emerged, relates to transparency issues: how much funding is being spent, where is it going and what are we getting for it. At the heart of the work on sustainability that we are undertaking is to be able to demonstrate to everybody what funding is going into the system and what the performance and output will be, because those are the issues on which we must focus. Allied to that, there were issues with regard to staff productivity. In a moment, I will ask Mr. Phillip Crosby, my colleague who works on the industrial relations side, to make a contribution on that. Before I finish, however, there were a number of other issues on which I wish to comment.

Another major theme that has emerged from the discussion this afternoon is the question of quality. That is an issue of concern to everybody in this room. It is essential. One of Ireland's achievements has been to protect the quality of the output from higher education. Mr. Boland might say a word about that. Obviously, we have our national framework of qualifications and we have the new organisation Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, which has a role in that area. The HEA and QQI have a close relationship on that shared agenda.

Another theme that emerged strongly from the discussion relates to access. A number of members asked about the arrangements for access. This is another big theme within the higher education landscape. As the committee will be aware, there are a number of dedicated programmes, including higher education access route, HEAR, and disability access route to education, DARE, for special admissions, and there are a number of criteria in place, including attendance at DEIS schools. That is one string to the bow. We have a national access plan in which a range of measures is pursued in conjunction with a dedicated office set up in the HEA on improving access to universities and institutes of technology, and there is a vibrant dialogue going on in that context. There will be a review of the national access plan in 2013, which will be carried out by the HEA. That will give us more information on which to assess policy.

There is a premium for access activities built into the HEA funding model. There are quite a series of pieces in the overall arrangements. This morning I was looking at the ESRI report which was published recently. It continues to signal that there are significant problems with access, but they are problems which go into a range of other issues. There is a need to take that report, think about the issues it raises and see what the implications are for Government and society, and that is what we propose to do.

My final remarks are on the transition agenda, which, as the Chairman stated, is a complex agenda. The Secretary General of the Department is chairing a group.

A broad range of organisations are represented on it, including the State Examinations Commission, the NCCA, the universities association, IOTI, the Department - I am sure I have left somebody out - and their specialist advisers. This is a complex landscape and we want to make progress with the understanding that action is required from a range of organisations. We intend to have a report completed for the Minister shortly on an integrated programme of actions that will see a stronger focus on the transition from second to third level. I will ask my colleague, Mr. Phillip Crosby, to comment on industrial relations aspects.