Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has approved the drafting of the institutes of technology Bill to transfer responsibility for the day-to-day management of the institutes of technology sector from my Department to a reconstituted Higher Education Authority. This will facilitate the gradual devolution to the institutes of technology of greater academic and managerial autonomy. This is in line with both the recommendations of the OECD review of higher education in Ireland and with Government policy which aims to create a unified strategy within the higher education sector while maintaining the differentiation of mission between the institutes and the universities.

While I have acknowledged that further structural reform of the Higher Education Authority will be necessary to ensure it is properly placed to implement the type of changes proposed by the OECD report, I have also made it clear that the final shape of future policy proposals for the sector will take account of the views of those working in and with it. To this end, my Department is engaged in a wide process of consultation with all interested parties to ensure any such restructuring takes place in the context of a wide-ranging, reform-driven strategic policy for the sector as a whole. The ongoing development of this policy is one of my key priorities and will underpin the wider national agenda, which aims to place Ireland at the very forefront of the emerging global knowledge economy.

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