Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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In the correspondence, the chief executive says:

Given the complexity and challenges in reporting the above occasional/hourly staff data, the HEA is planning to meet the HEI Representative bodies in order to agree a definition of occasional staff with a view to collecting same in Q2/3 2021 and sharing this information to the committee[.]

We need to see the outcome of that and hopefully we will have it before the HEA comes before us. Along with the correspondence suggested, I further suggest we write to the Minister on this.

People who attend university would be surprised to learn that one third of the staff at the institution they attend are on casual, if-and-when arrangements in terms of their employment. I request the committee's permission to ask the clerk to write to the Minister to highlight the concerns of the committee with regard to this. Resolving these issues needs to be given some importance and a more regular system needs to be put in place. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We move now to correspondence that has not yet been considered in committee. The following four items are in response to information we requested from all Departments in regard to protected disclosures. They arose under No. 552B and have been received from the Departments of Education, Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and Justice. As no members have indicated they wish to comment on them, we will move on.

No. 583 is from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, and is dated 13 May. It is a minute of the Minister in response to our recent report on the examination of the Appropriation Accounts of the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance. There was one recommendation to each Department in the report and both have been accepted. The recommendation to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform concerned the provision of a timeline to move to accrual accounting, while that to the Department of Finance concerned the need to resolve issues relating to the accounts of the Credit Union Restructuring Board. It is proposed that we note and publish the correspondence. It was flagged by Deputy Catherine Murphy, who is not seeking to comment on it.

No. 584B is from Mr. Ken Spratt, Secretary General of the Department of Transport, dated 13 May, providing information requested by the committee in regard to protected disclosure annual reports. Again, unless any Deputy wishes to comment on the specific response, it is proposed that we note and publish the correspondence, as we have already dealt with the matter. It was flagged by Deputies Carthy and Catherine Murphy, who have indicated they are happy to move on.

No. 587 is from Mr. Jim Breslin, Secretary General of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, dated 14 May, providing a response to our inquiry as to whether consideration was given to the appointment of a visitor at University of Limerick, UL, under section 20(1) of the Universities Act 1997. The Act states: "Where the Minister is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for contending that the functions of a university are being performed in a manner which prima facieconstitutes a breach of the laws, statutes or ordinances applicable to the university, the Minister may, after first advising the governing authority of his or her opinion and considering any explanation given in response, and with the concurrence of the Government, request the Visitor to the university to inquire into any matter giving rise to the Minister's opinion."

Pointing out that the Department is always cognisant of this action, the Secretary General goes on to state: "[T]aking into account the limited set of circumstances in which a Visitor can be appointed, the extensive investigations that were carried out and the commitment of UL to the implementation of the recommendations that arose from these investigations the courses of action chosen have not included the appointment of a Visitor." It is proposed to note and publish this correspondence. I remind the committee that UL is on our work programme for June. The matter was flagged by Deputy Catherine Murphy, who has indicated she does not wish to comment on it. She is happy to wait until June.