Mr. Tim Conlon:

I thank Senator O'Reilly. That is very interesting. The point about the application of research and knowledge is something that is very important to us in the HEA Through our work in the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, for example, we are looking at education for sustainable development as being core to every undergraduate programme. That core competency in every undergraduate programme has to be informed by the most up-to-date research. Therefore, we are looking at how the research on, for example, environmental issues, informs everyone in terms of their practices so that an engineer graduating has been exposed to that level of research. It is that tie-in. It is actually an application of basic research in a way but that link is very important to us.

On governance, I am going to sound like I am disagreeing with Professor Nolan but, of course, I am not; I would not do so publicly anyway. The balance probably does not matter so much in terms of legislation because a balance can shift over time. Research is about discovery of new knowledge and change. What might be a solution for an issue now might not be appropriate to the future. It is, therefore, better for the balance to be left to the agency. That was the point Professor Nolan made earlier about it being a policy matter. If it is a policy matter for the agency, however, then the governance is ever more important because who gets to decide where the balance sits? The concentration needs to be on the overall governance of the agency and the kinds of people who are making the decisions about the balance.

I would not be inclined to set a balance in legislation. The balance has to move and shift over time. That should be within the power of a new funding agency, with the appropriate oversight and governance.