Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)

I welcome the establishment of the new authority and I commend the Minister, Deputy Quinn, on introducing the Bill. This debate on its establishment provides an opportunity to make some points on governance and standards in training, education and qualifications in Ireland.

I want to reflect on university life in Ireland and I agree with some of the points made by my colleague, Deputy Nolan, on the commercialisation of education. Neoliberal thought has strengthened its impact on thinking in Ireland in the body politic and in universities. The definition of the appropriate function of a university in Irish life has narrowed greatly. Great universities need great teachers. Teaching in universities needs to be valued in and of itself, but too often the modern university is less a marketplace of ideas with good teachers facilitating students in a journey of exploration and learning and more a knowledge factory. It is not good enough to conceptualise education in purely managerial or technical terms like so many heads of our universities seem to do. I listen with regret when I hear the heads of our universities speak more like chief executives of companies than leaders of centres of learning and education.

More often than not, they speak not of the good of the society, nor of the good of students, but often in terms of what is good only for the university itself and its commercial operation when its modus operandi should be educational excellence and the development of political, moral, philosophical and scientific thought in Ireland and beyond our shores.

Many good courses in our universities have fallen foul of the neoliberal model. I am concerned that courses, which facilitate people to develop the capacity to think and reflect critically about themselves and the society in which they live, may not fall into a narrow concept of third level education in years to come. It is essential that we foster opportunities for education in maths, science and technology to attract investment leading to jobs. It is equally important to foster the teaching of philosophy, sociology, social policy, the arts and humanities so that all those in the third level sector can think critically and question the powerful in our society about the foundations on which our society is organised.

The new body we are establishing must have concern for the role of education in society. It must consider universities and other third level institutions as thriving centres for ideas. Research and teaching must not be in competition with each other, but must exist alongside each other in a thriving third level sector working towards the common good. In that context I welcome that the Union of Students in Ireland has today voted for a third level education model funded fully through the Exchequer - a model that I support. Income tax should be increased on annual incomes of €80,000 or more to help pay for universal access to third level education.

The new body must ensure that the role of teaching in our universities is valued. It must advertise itself as open for business to those students who wish to consult with it in regard to the quality of teaching.

The new body will absorb the functions of FETAC. It is essential that our new regulatory structure recognises that the adult learners and those returning to education who form the bulk of those on FETAC-approved courses deserve the very best in excellence of teaching. The learners also require that approved education providers for adults and those returning to education will ensure that qualifications are fully respected when courses are complete. The new body must be promoted so that every adult learner and everybody returning to education knows the organisation has been established and has the responsibility, should problems ever arise.

Of the functions currently under the auspices of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, it is the issue of the regulation of English language schools that concerns me most. The schools are currently regulated by ACELS, the Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services. I have profound concerns about the treatment of staff in language schools in Ireland. I know of no English language school operating in Dublin where a trade union is recognised. I know of no other industry where work is so insecure or precarious that one never hears of contracts, rarely of sick pay or paid leave. I hope the new authority will investigate that and that the Minister in his role will also look at the issues. The Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland we are establishing today must take on board the conditions experienced by workers in language schools if they are to take seriously education standards in these schools. Teachers must feel secure and enjoy decent terms and conditions in order to concentrate on the educational development of their students and to facilitate the sort of learning those coming to Ireland to learn English should experience.

The Higher Education and Training Awards Council is the other body that will be amalgamated into this umbrella organisation when the Bill is passed. It is the qualifications awarding body for third level education and training institutions outside the university sector. In that context I pay tribute to our institutes of technology. In my constituency, Dublin West, the IT in Blanchardstown has performed incredibly well. Students from some of our DEIS schools, such as Riversdale community college, are going in droves to these institutes of technology, representing a major step forward in the educational mix.

While I support the organisations that have been set up, they have a number of challenges, in the English language sector, the university sector and the tertiary sector. I hope this body will be cognisant of them all. I am very concerned about the commercialisation not only of third level education, but also of research in our universities. It is vital that when new ideas and products are developed within our university sector they are fostered and advanced by indigenous companies perhaps on a co-operative basis. That research should be democratically developed and controlled so that large multinational corporations - while they have a role to play - do not have monopoly in new research and development in our educational sector. While I would not discourage in any way private sector investment, particularly if it is good for the students, we must remember that first and foremost education is a social product and a social good. The courses, options and opportunities offered to students at third and fourth level should be diverse open and dictated by the educational needs of the country and our society and not by the commercial interests of the private sector.

I support the Bill and I commend the Minister on introducing it. I hope some of the points I have made today will be taken on board and that we build an education system based on universal provision funded through direct taxation, democratically controlled and in the interests of society and not for narrow commercial interests. I wish the Minister well in his challenging role.

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