Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I welcome this legislation which will amalgamate the existing national qualifications and quality assurance bodies for students into one new agency. The Irish education system has served us well in the past, helping to recalibrate Ireland's international reputation and promote the country's talent, something of which we are very proud.

The functions of the new agency will be to consolidate the existing functions of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, NQAI, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, HETAC, the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, and the Irish Universities Qualities Board, IUQB. The four bodies are agreed that this move strengthens a focus on high-quality learning experiences across all education and training provision nationally. The strength of current quality assurance systems will grow, opening up new opportunities for people to engage and succeed in learning.

We will soon have a new acronym, QQAI, standing for the Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland, which will be responsible for a wide range of functions, providing a more integrated, efficient and coherent range of services to students across the further and higher education and training sectors, to the highest international standards. The new authority will bring with it the power to decide the standards of learning which must be met by the student before an award is given. In addition, the authority will have the power to review programmes it has already validated and to withdraw that validation if it deems there are reasonable grounds for so doing.

Such quality assurance provisions will mean that the QQAI will be responsible for building on Ireland's reputation for quality in education and training and it will be strongly positioned to highlight and promote best practice throughout the educational and training systems. The national framework of qualifications, NFQ, will be further developed by QQAI which will, in time, lead to greater opportunities for students. The currency of all awards on the framework remains guaranteed, building on the many achievements of the individual agencies and untied by the framework of qualifications. The amalgamation will support and promote a culture of quality in Irish higher education. It will independently evaluate the effectiveness of quality processes in Irish universities to deliver a better and more cost effective service. It has been estimated by the Department that the amalgamation will save the Exchequer in the region of €1 million per annum, which must be welcomed.

A significant element of this Bill is that it provides for a code of practice for the provision of educational services to international students. Based on their compliance with this code of practice, education and training providers will be able to apply for an international education mark-based system. One concern that might have existed about the proposed legislative framework was that by mixing the quality assurance process of the university sector with the quality and standards of other educational bodies, the autonomy of the university system and its particular ethos and mission might be compromised. However, there is special provision throughout for what are described as "previously established universities". These universities will continue to operate their own quality assurance processes subject, however, to obligations of consultation with the new authority and for providing it with information, as highlighted in section 28 of the Bill. The provisions of the Bill ensure that the needs of students will be prioritised, including those who have chosen to travel from abroad to study in Ireland.

Of course, it will be important to ascertain how the QQAI will work in practice. A very promising aspect is that its new chief executive will be Dr. Padraig Walsh, formerly of DCU and most recently the chief executive of the IUQB. His influence on the culture of this new body will ensure that it operates in a way that respects university autonomy and encourages a positive approach to quality assurance and enhancement.

As we continue on the road to economic recovery it is important for us to continue to promote the right skills needed for the 21st-century knowledge economy. We must be mindful that the system which brought us the graduates of the past and today will itself be brought up to a world class standard so that we are ready to meet the challenges of the future. This Bill is just another step forward in that process.

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