Dáil debates

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Other Questions

Third Level Sector Reform

3:15 pm

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline the savings he has achieved in the third level sector in terms of reform of academic contracts and improved efficiencies since taking office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51298/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Reforms in the higher education area include academic staff delivering an additional hour per week resulting in more than 100,000 additional lecturing hours which, if they had to be paid for, would amount to an estimated €8 million annually. Since the Croke Park agreement, the student-to-staff ratio in higher education institutions has increased by 18%. The employment control framework has resulted in the reduction of core staff numbers by approximately 9% from 2008 to the end of 2011. In the context of reducing staff numbers, full-time student numbers increased by 17,000, or approximately 12%, between December 2008 and December 2011. In addition, institutions are continually engaging in shared services and procurement initiatives to effect savings. The Higher Education Authority has emphasised the need for all higher education institutions to review the full range of services they provide and their associated cost structures with a view to reducing or eliminating unnecessary or unsustainable costs, particularly in the area of unnecessary programme duplication.

I also draw the Deputy's attention to the recent decision by the Government to amend the Universities Act 1997 to oblige universities to comply with Government pay policy. This legislation will put an end to the era of unauthorised allowances being paid to senior members of staff, which was tolerated by the previous Government.

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. As referred to in the previous exchange, there undoubtedly are real funding challenges within the third level sector. In advance of the last general election, the Minister made a very strong play regarding what he would achieve in respect of academic contracts and the savings to be made therefrom. The Minister should provide Members with an overall figure on what has been achieved thus far. While the Minister has outlined the reduction in employment, what has been achieved in respect of productivity savings in the third level sector since the Minister took office?

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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If the Deputy will bear with me, I have to hand a note which hopefully will provide him with the information he seeks. The anticipated question was on what savings have been achieved under the employment control framework, which came in just before the present Government took office but which is within approximately the same time period. Under the employment control framework, core staff numbers were reduced by 7.3% between December 2008 and December 2010, which was significantly in excess of the 6% reduction that had been required. As this happened under the previous Administration, I claim no credit for it. Core staff numbers were reduced further in 2011, bringing the total reduction against 2008 up to approximately 9%, which is an increase of just under 2% by the end of December 2011. It is to be noted that over the same period, overall public sector numbers decreased by 7.2%. As further reductions are required in the sector in 2012, it is anticipated that core staff numbers will have been reduced in total by a minimum of approximately 10% by the end of December 2012. In the context of reducing staff numbers as outlined above, full-time student numbers increased, as I noted earlier, by 17,000 or 12%. Furthermore, institutions continue to engage proactively with sectoral labour market initiatives such as Springboard.

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has outlined that the percentage of staff number reductions has almost reached 11% and this figure pertains to staff who have left the third level system. Does the Minister have to hand a figure for productivity savings made in respect of existing staff or changes in the manner in which universities work and operate?

Is there a figure for increased productivity in the third level sector?

3:25 pm

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I will attempt to get the figures rather than hazard a guess across the floor. A huge increase in productivity is evident when one matches the reduction in funding with the increase of student numbers. That has possibly resulted in the deterioration in quality of some services, although that has not been brought to my attention. It certainly shows there is an extraordinary capacity to absorb increased numbers. We do not know if quality is maintained.

The purpose of the exercise I described in a previous question comes from the fact that in some areas, the Department of Education and Skills and the Higher Education Authority do not know these answers. We had 19 separate providers in the educational teaching and training sector and we are now proposing to reduce those to six. We do not know how many engineering courses are being delivered across the entire spectrum, and we must find that out concisely. We could hazard a guess but we cannot give precise descriptions of those engineering courses.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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With regard to improving efficiencies, some concern has been expressed by senior lecturers in UCD about the frequency with which firms like Arthur Cox have been employed. I note that legal services are listed as non-priority under EU public procurement directives, meaning many public bodies excuse themselves from running competitive tendering processes for legal services. Will a legally binding requirement be introduced regarding competitive tendering for legal services contracts rather than the current guidelines applying to public bodies by way of circular issued from the Minister? One of the recommendations of the Competition Authority report was to reduce cost by identifying legal services purchased by the State where competitive tendering would be an appropriate form of procurement.

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister put his finger on the issue when he said we do not know some of the issues we need to. It is very hard to evaluate whether quality has dropped given the rise in students and it is a challenge for the Department to precisely evaluate that. We can go on from there.

The Minister mentioned an amendment to the Universities Act. When the heads were published there was much media commentary but will the Minister give an indication of when they will come before the committee or even be finalised?

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The documents were put on the website on Friday evening and the hard copies can be downloaded. The committee can decide if they want to discuss them with the Higher Education Authority. I share Deputy Wallace's concerns, and there is a sense in many smaller legal firms, which would be well able to provide legal service or collaborate with others, that the big five seem to have been enabled to have an exclusive crack at many of these contracts. It is unsatisfactory and I have had informal discussions with the Minister for Justice and Equality on the matter. We are considering the procurement issue to ensure smaller firms can tender for this kind of work.