Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this important legislation. Since the establishment of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the elevation of its Minister to Cabinet ranking, this is probably the most important all-encompassing legislation to come to the floor of the Dáil. It is very easy to dwell on many different aspects of this so I will try to limit my contribution to two or three remarks.

Deputy O'Callaghan rightly referred to the importance of retaining the independence of our academic institutions. While that is extremely important, there must be safeguards. I am concerned about the impact some third-party actors, including other State actors, have had in trying to influence the academic teaching in some of our third level institutions in recent months and years. There have been very worrying reports that have led to academics, including from University College Dublin, coming forward about the inappropriate contact and influence from other actors over their academic freedom and their ability to teach students the truth and allow them to gain critical analysis skills. It is still important that the State plays an extremely proactive role in that. That feeds into the wider issue of the global standing of our higher education institutions, which is extremely important. We have to ask what the purpose of higher education institutions is and where the opportunities are.

Although many Members have highlighted the high standing of Irish institutions globally, we all know they can do better in global rankings and, most importantly, through attracting funding, whether through the new model of Horizon or co-operating with other institutions, particularly in other EU member states, to attract that investment and research and development capability.

The key component of this legislation on which I would like to focus my remaining time is the whole area of the student experience. There are many different areas at which we can come at this. There are many different examples of what a third level student or a student in a higher education institution could look like in terms of their gender, their age and their background. We need to make sure higher education is genuinely accessible to all and that the level of higher education is appropriate for all. We need to throw off the shackles of outdated mentalities when it comes to apprenticeships and much else. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, has been proactive in this.

As many Members have done, it is tempting to talk about their own third level experience and that is all very important because it frames our debate. However, let us be frank. Not all of our experiences, and particularly mine, were recent. One area I regret, although I do not like to dwell on regret, is the decision I made quite some years ago to turn down the opportunity to go on an Erasmus. This is an area that feeds not only into the student experience, but into the development of our higher education institutions and the ability to promote Ireland as an Erasmus destination and to attract students from across the European Union to come into our third level institutions and to complete their year of undergraduate studies. This does not only relate to our third level institutions or to our graduate studies, but to other vocational training. Perhaps, in due course, those who are doing further research studies, such as post-doctoral research, may think of Irish institutions as their destinations.

Equally, we should encourage all Irish students to take up that opportunity to go to another EU member state to study there for a year, to appreciate the cultural opportunities and to arm themselves with a modern European language because we, as a people, are desperately bad at this. We have an inability to be multilingual. Beyond the cúpla focal and our abilities in English, we do not have enough French speakers, Spanish speakers, Romanian speakers or Polish speakers in this country. If we look at the pre-Covid-19 figures, only 3,500 or so Irish students were taking up the opportunity to go on an Erasmus each year and it was heavily weighted towards France. If we can achieve anything through this legislation and through returning the student experience, it will be to show students that there is so much more to third level than the books and the lecture halls. It is about the wider experience. Crucially, we must give them the tools, the funding and the support to take up all the opportunities open to them. I look forward to contributing to this legislation in more detail on a further Stage.

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