Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

The Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill seeks to consolidate services currently provided by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, HETAC, the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, NQAI, and the Irish Universities Board, IQUB, under a new agency - the Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland, QQAAI. I acknowledge the valuable work done by each of these bodies and the roles they have played in enabling private colleges to gain access to national awards and providing public reassurance regarding the standards in those colleges. The establishment of the National Framework of Qualifications should bring greater clarity to the complex range of qualifications developed over time across the educational spectrum.

The Bill sets out to streamline services and put in place a single, more efficient, organisation that ensures quality in further and higher education and training. An amalgamated body should be better placed to progress plans for development across further and higher education by drawing on the experiences and expertise that currently exists and which can be pooled to offer greater efficiency. It will also simplify the process of communication for providers, especially those who deal with the range of qualifications and quality assurance bodies. The new agency will help education and training providers in their dealings with one organisation, and provide greater clarity for learners and award holders. The coherence of the new system will enhance Ireland's provision of education and training.

At present, because several bodies are tasked with providing the types of services covered by the Bill, there has been some overlap and duplication of responsibilities. Any attempt to improve the delivery of a more efficient service is a laudable aim that can only be achieved if the new authority is properly resourced and staffed with qualified and experienced personnel who are capable of delivering a more effective service.

Sinn Féin supports making qualifications more understandable in different countries across Europe and it is equally important that the Bill provides that education bodies, wherever possible, ensure their awards are recognised within the National Framework of Qualifications, NFQ. It must also enable international comparison between degree programmes and continue to improve the quality of Irish degree courses. Any new body overseeing quality must strive to create transparency in the Irish education system; ensure independent quality assessment; enable international comparison between degree programmes; and continue to improve the quality of Irish degree courses.

For the first time, the Bill provides for the external review of the quality assurance procedures of universities and the transfer of this function from the IUQB to the new agency. In addition, recognised universities of the NUI are expected to establish quality assurance procedures that must be approved by the new agency. The authority will also encourage providers to apply for an international education mark, based on their compliance with the code of conduct.

One of the concerns expressed by the National University of Ireland and echoed by others is that amalgamating a higher education awards body with a further education awards body may lead to reputational damage to the awards on the higher education side. For example, most member agencies in the European Association for Higher Education Quality Assurance are concerned solely with higher education. The model of a single agency covering the entire spectrum, from basic literacy awards to doctoral degrees, has not found favour elsewhere, particularly in the countries represented in the European Association for Higher Education Quality Assurance where, by definition, the majority of the member agencies are concerned solely with higher education.

The NUI, while understanding the desire to achieve seamless progression between the two sectors, warns of the possible reputational risk to the qualifications on the higher education side and the implications this would have for higher education colleges. There are also concerns that the Minister will attempt to pressurise the universities into abolishing their own quality bodies and procedures when the Bill becomes law.

The role and activities of the NUI should not be undervalued, yet the Bill contains a veiled threat to the continuing existence of the organisation. In what amounts to a warning about the continuance of the National University of Ireland as a federal university, it would tarnish a brand that enjoys high recognition and standing nationally and internationally, and is potentially more damaging to Irish higher education than the proposed change to its awarding role. The international reputation of NUI degrees at bachelor, master and doctorate level is well established and the existence of the NUI should not be lightly discarded. It is equally important that quality assurance schemes in established universities that are working well are not undermined by ministerial appointments.

One of the core objectives of the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999 was to promote and maintain procedures, and access transfer and progression. Through education and learning, its central aim was to engender confidence and develop skills for all learners, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Accreditation of prior learning is particularly important for disadvantaged or marginalised socio-economic groups whose prior learning experience must be recognised and considered when they have applied for diploma or degree courses. The QQAAI must be cognisant of the implications arising from increases in third level fees that restrict access to students from poorer families. The Government must ensure equality of access to education, starting at preschool level and applied to all aspects of learning at primary and post-primary level through to third level. This is one of the cornerstones of ensuring we have a progressive and fair education system that works towards positive outcomes across lifelong learning for all of our citizens and I would be interested to hear how the Minister intends to address these matters.

During the Seanad debate on the Bill, Senator Ó Clochartaigh referred to the Bologna Declaration of 1999 that aims to provide a common European system of credits and create a system that makes it easier to compare degrees. There is merit in developing this type of cross-European co-operation and standardisation, but it should be remembered that the Bologna Declaration has received its fair share of criticism. Instead of making European higher education more compatible, comparable and attractive for students, it has been seen by some to facilitate the commercialisation of higher education and, in the process, engendered the type of competitiveness that hampers the development of a broader, holistic approach to learning.

There are also strongly held views that there has been a change in the emphasis of universities from centres of knowledge and learning into institutions that churn out qualifications. In the process, students are being treated as customers on a conveyor belt system, which is over-regulated and fails to allow for national differences or individual considerations. The emphasis on the attainment of vocational degrees has resulted in a reduction in funding for some non-vocational areas and this has led to sponsorship by big business of the more "employable" education programmes. Many institutions offer a broad education and it is important that this approach is preserved, as there is more to education than the mere grinding out of results for the lowest costs possible and for the international league tables, which can be rather misleading. We should be cautious in how we implement reform and a central aim must be the preservation of the positive, unique aspects of our higher and further education systems, while striving to make improvements.

The RIA claims that the Bill will incur no additional cost to the Exchequer and will eventually result in savings of €1 million annually. This reduction in costs should be realised over time and will be achieved through economies of scale and reductions in staff numbers and CEOs. The Minister should clarify if there will be job losses resulting from the establishment of the QQAAI and what the cost to the Exchequer of terminating senior management and CEO contracts will be. Even more importantly, savings made through the amalgamation of the existing exam bodies should be redirected into essential front line services.

The RIA also warns of possible costs that might be incurred by universities in implementing revised quality assurance practices. I hope the Minister will give assurances that any additional costs will not result in a rise in student fees. I also hope the Bill will be able to establish quality assurance procedures that will help address the recent slippage of Irish universities in world rankings, which saw Trinity College Dublin drop 13 places, UCD drop 20 places and NUI Galway drop 66 places.

The Bill provides that only the Minister can appoint the eight members of the QQAAI board, but consideration might be given to allowing interested parties, individually or in appropriate groups, to make at least some nominations. By expanding the board's membership it would be possible to include people with wider business, management, community and learner perspectives, as well as international expertise. It is also important that there is student representation on the board. The current proposals appear to provide little space for an Irish academic voice or for any significant university input. Any new agency should have a meaningful relationship with the universities with regard to external quality assurance, and it would seem essential for it to include some relevant expertise at board level. The appointed CEO will wield a good deal of power under the legislation and it is important that there is clarification about to whom he or she will be accountable.

The new authority aims to encourage providers to apply for an international education mark based on their code of conduct. Nowhere in the Bill is it mentioned that course providers must guarantee that courses will run to their final completion. Last summer, there was understandable uproar when some well-known language schools in Dublin closed after having accepted fees from students. Providers should have to show they are financially viable before getting this mark and this should be applicable to all higher education providers.

One of the most worrying aspects of the Bill concerns section 21(2), which implies that conditions of staff will not be protected except for remuneration. Furthermore, subsection (3) does not include conditions relating to superannuation, so pensions of existing members might be threatened when transferred to the new body. There are well founded fears that conditions of service, pension rights and salary pay scales are not covered by the Bill and that this may have implications for staff being redeployed across the public sector. The Minister should consider amending the Bill and use the wording contained in section 52(8) and (9) of the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999 that legislates to protect the transfer conditions of staff so their existing entitlements in respect of tenure, remuneration, fees allowances, expenses and superannuation remain in place.

The NQAI, FETAC, HETAC and IUQB welcome the publication of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training ) Bill 2011. The legislation provides for a new single national agency, the Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland, QQAAI, to replace FETAC, HETAC, NQAI and IUQB. It is anticipated that the QQAAI will be established in 2012. This legislation will amalgamate the existing national qualifications and quality assurance bodies for learners into one new agency. The agency will be responsible for a wide range of functions and should hopefully provide a more integrated, efficient and coherent range of services to learners across the further and higher education and training sectors that will meet the highest international standards.

It is important that the new agency does more than just consolidate the existing functions of the NQAI, HETAC, FETAC and the IQUB. It will be tasked with building on Ireland's reputation for quality in education and training and will be well placed to highlight and promote best practice throughout the Irish educational and training system. It must serve learners and the public and build on the past achievements of the existing individual agencies, under the National Framework of Qualifications. One of its key aims must be to provide greater opportunities for learners and support and promote a culture of quality in Irish higher education by independently evaluating the effectiveness of Irish universities.

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