Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleagues in extending my condolences to the family of Noel Treacy, who, as a Member of this House, represented Galway East for almost 30 years. In my time knowing Noel and campaigning with him, I was always amazed by his ability with names and his connection with people up and down the country. He will be fondly remembered in this Chamber by all people of all parties and none. He made a significant contribution to public life as a Deputy, a Minister and in his leadership role in Galway GAA. I offer my sympathies to his wife, Mary, and their children. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

I thank the Minister, the Minister of State and their officials for introducing the Higher Education Authority Bill. I will be supporting this piece of legislation which will reform how our higher education institutions operate. The Bill seeks to reform the supervision and regulation of HEIs and to modernise the regulatory role of the HEA. The Bill introduces a number of welcome requirements, including obligations on third level institutions to engage in strategic planning, enhanced engagement with students, improved access to higher education, comprehensive collection of statistics and other measures to ensure a consistent approach to governance is ensured across the sector and country.

We are lucky in Ireland to have a number of outstanding third level institutions. Trinity College Dublin, TCD, and UCD are well known throughout the world. Academics and students from TCD and UCD, and of course UCC, NUIG, UL and Maynooth University have made a significant contribution to Irish society and internationally over the years, noting, of course, James Joyce, one of UCD’s most prominent graduates, who published his masterpiece Ulysseson this day 100 years ago in Paris.

In recent years we have seen the development of the higher education sector with even more students than ever taking up third level courses at traditional institutions and also the new technical universities, such as the Technological University Dublin. I welcome many of the proposed governance arrangements in this Bill, particularly the changes to ensure the unique and historic arrangements at Trinity College are respected. I thank the Minister for taking on board the feedback from academics at the university. Academic freedom is a core principle and nothing in this legislation will impinge on the academic freedom of higher education institutions or their staff which must continue to be protected in legislation.

It is apt that the Minister of State with responsibility for skills and further education, Deputy Niall Collins, is in the Chamber because I also welcome the provisions of this Bill that will further develop opportunities for apprenticeships. As we deal with the housing crisis and the challenges of climate change, including the need to retrofit hundreds of thousands of homes, we will need a new generation of skilled, educated workers. This Bill will help further that critical objective.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Professor Andrew Deeks, the president of UCD, who is due to take up the post of president of Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Professor Deeks has ably led the university since 2014, introducing many changes and overseeing a transformative programme at the institution. I wish him, his wife, Dr. Linda Deeks, and their daughter, Pearl, all the best as they depart.

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