Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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HEIs are autonomous organisations and come before the public accounts committee having had their accounts reviewed by the Comptroller and Auditor General. I have already told my officials and relayed to the Higher Education Authority that a number of these are running through. They are independent of the Department. There will be an opportunity for the Higher Education Authority to, for want of a better word, relay its views to the Department around the workability of the HEA Act, which is a recent addition to our legislative armoury. I have said publicly that if the HEA feels changes, improvements or amendments are needed to strengthen the Act, based on all the investigations under way, some of which have been aired in this room, I am open to that.