Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to offer my condolences and sympathy to the family of the late Noel Treacy, former Deputy and Minister, who served in this House for 30 years. He is a huge loss to his wife and family, his local community and the many organisations with which he was involved in Galway. I refer in particular to Galway GAA, where he was chairman of the county board for a number of years after his retirement from these Houses. He was a great colleague and a great person to offer advice to new Members of this House. I was a new Member during his last term here and I wanted to pay my respects to his memory today.

I thank the Deputies who have indicated their support for the Bill and all those who contributed to the Second Stage debate today and last week. I will comment on a number of issues related to the Bill.

The higher education sector has been transformed since the Higher Education Authority Act of 1971. The authority was first put in place over 50 years ago, and a number of contributors alluded to that fact during the debate. In 1971, there were approximately 20,000 students in higher education. This figure has increased to over 200,000 students in the present day. Higher education has become more accessible to all sectors of society and more adaptable to meeting the State's social, economic and labour market needs. The HEA is now responsible for an extensive and diverse sector beyond the original small number of universities provided for in the 1971 Act. The HEA's responsibilities now extend to a number of universities, new technological universities and institutes of technology. There have been legislative developments in the interim but this has not extended to a comprehensive legislative review of the HEA itself and the institutional governance across the sector.

As part of its core legal function, the HEA is responsible for allocating recurrent funding to higher education institutions of €1.5 billion in 2022. The HEA will also be responsible for allocating up to €152 million in capital infrastructure funding this year, as well as overseeing capital project delivery, advancing the higher education public private partnership, PPP, programme and planning for future capital investments.

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, presented the European Commission DG REFORM-funded report on future sustainability for higher education to the Cabinet committee in late December 2021. The committee agreed that the report and the Department's position should progress to Cabinet shortly, in late January or early February. The Department is engaging with colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on bringing the report to Cabinet this month. It is anticipated that the report will be published shortly after that Cabinet meeting.

The effective performance of the higher education system is crucial to the realisation of key economic and social objectives. This legislation is a key part of the Government's reform agenda for the higher education system. As we look to drive our ambitions forward, we are seeking to ensure that the fundamental building blocks of governance and funding are firmly in place. The core objectives of the HEA legislation are to promote and support higher education institutions in achieving excellence in teaching, learning and research; promote and safeguard the interests of students; advance equality, diversity and inclusion in higher education; provide comprehensive governance and accountability frameworks to safeguard Exchequer investment in the sector and ensure accountability by higher education institutions for that funding; maximise the contributions of higher education to social, economic, cultural, Irish language and environmental development and sustainability; and maintain and enhance the reputation of the higher education sector, including its international reputation. The overall aim is to provide a high-quality, student-focused system with appropriate oversight and accountability to underpin the confidence of stakeholders, students and the public.

The legislation will clarify overall policy development in relation to higher education and research as the responsibility of the Minister. It enables improved institutional governance in higher education institutions but also provides for accountability by the higher education institutions to the HEA and the State, in particular, for Exchequer funding. This legislation puts an onus on the higher education institutions to have in place robust governance and accountability structures and processes within their institutions. It provides for oversight by the HEA of the institutions of higher education and intervention if they do not exercise good governance.

The legislation will recognise that autonomy and flexibility are essential features of higher education institutions, but also that this must be matched with transparent governance and accountability to students, stakeholders and the public. It is important to note that the legislation will not impinge on the academic freedom of higher education institutions or their staff. This is a core tenet which will continue to be enshrined in legislation. Institutions will continue to be supported to do what they do best, which is to deliver excellence in education and research and provide places of engagement and insight to support a flourishing democratic society.

There has been an extensive and ongoing consultation process on this legislation since 2018 which has been a central element of the development of the legislation. The views of stakeholders have been sought on all of the key issues and the approach has been to make clear the policy objectives and reforms are understood and, to the greatest extent possible, supported by stakeholders.

I thank the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science who undertook pre-legislative scrutiny on the Bill. Many of the recommendations made were very helpful in finalising the provisions in the Bill.

I will respond briefly to some of the issues which were raised. With regard to the incorporation of St. Angela's College in Sligo, an amendment to the Institutes of Technology Act 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018, was included in the memo to Government on this Bill and amendments are with the Office of the Attorney General for drafting. It is intended to include these amendments on Committee Stage.

Deputy Michael Moynihan raised a number of issues with regard to the case of a student who is seeking grant assistance. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has asked that Deputy Moynihan furnish all of the details to his office and he will have the matter taken up with the grant-awarding authority.

A number of speakers raised the issue of governing bodies of our institutions. The Bill seeks, as we know, to reduce the number of members on governing authorities to 17. It is intended that the membership would be a competency-based membership. Modern governance practice is to have smaller boards, rather than representational boards. Some members raised points about local authority members and the legislation provides for consultation by the higher education institutions with all stakeholders, including local authority members. In addition, there will be opportunities in terms of sitting on subcommittees of governing bodies.

I thank the House for its engagement.

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