Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The big thing is that the Minister is not in charge and her officials are not in charge of the quangos under her control. The Minister has promised new legislation to sort out all this, but will we see it in the new year? Unless she is in charge of her Department, then these things will continue to happen. Right across the third level institutions, especially the universities, there have been a number of instances of moneys paid to people that should never have been paid. The problem is that the Minister is recovering some of that money by increasing student grants. There is a need for significant savings and accountability from third level institutions that are thumbing their noses at the Minister and the HEA. The only people who suffer are taxpayers and students. Everyone else gets away with it.

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