Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a reason I have asked for several actions to be taken by the group chaired by the National Women's Council of Ireland in advance of planning for the coming budgetary year. I want to do more. Funding for third level institutions also comes from research agencies such as Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council. We must make sure those agencies are aware of any allegations of wrongdoing on the courses they fund. Let us be honest - we must ensure a linkage between people getting on top of this issue and levels of funding. That is why I want the HEA to have an oversight role. I do not want this to be done in-house. I want action plans to be published, with metrics that can be measured by the HEA. Later this year we will introduce the general scheme of legislation on the governance of this whole sector to the House. I hope we can all work on that together to achieve the necessary increases in oversight. I have not lived under a rock for my whole life but the prevalence of this issue is causing me significant concern. However it is not beyond us to get on top of this and bring about the cultural change that we need. I accept that this will require resources.

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