Results 261-280 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State. The reply shows that the CEO is regarded as the Minister's preacher and public servant. That is not what education is about. Under further provisions in the Bill he is not allowed to discuss the merits of any policy of the Government or of a Minister of the Government. Imagine what an extension of that into the university sector would do. It would destroy...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I am afraid it has already been decided.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: He has been there since 2010, unfortunately, so Senator Power will have to accept that situation. Who drew up the merits and objectives of this policy, and what kind of Ireland do they envisage? It is appalling. The essence of education is that there are differing views and we discuss them. Nobody has all the wisdom, yet in this case he does not need to answer to anybody or take part in...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I will not press it for the moment. We are really intruding at this stage into the way Ireland's education operates. I thank the Minister of State for his reference to the work of people like Mary Robinson. She grew up in a system where, for example, the provost of Trinity College would never say he was the CEO and that others should stay quiet and touch the forelock. That is the nature...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 26: In page 21, subsection (3), line 25, after "with" to insert the following: "the Governing Authority and Academic Council of the". This amendment is in the spirit of consultation about which the Minister of State spoke. It proposes that the authority should also consult the governing authorities and academic councils of the relevant providers. There is an unfortunate...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State's response. The Bill was not placed before internal consultative bodies. I do not know if such constultation was asked for or if the Department went ahead with the legislation unilaterally. However, it has become a recent tradition, in some Irish universities more than others, that the opinions of those who actually do the work do not count. That is why I...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I will not press the amendment, but I am halfway through a four year term as a member of a university board and can assure the Minister of State that the Bill was never discussed. I previoulsy served a half term on the same board and the Bill was not discussed during that time, which is most regrettable. However, I thank the Minister of State for his sentiments in that regard. We must...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 31: In page 22, subsection (4)(a), line 23, to delete ", research". Reference was made to research. We have heard from the Minister of State that it is not a function which this body can exercise because it does not have the expertise in thermodynamics, nuclear science or whatever other area. Research is evaluated by the editors of international journals. The idea that...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his response and reference to the league tables. Trinity College Dublin, TCD, is 15th in the world in terms of citations of research. That is the constituency I represent. I do not denigrate the work carried out anywhere else. The equation of the decline in the league tables with so-called reputational damage is linked to the collapse of the banks and the...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I will not delay the House further because this is the amendment we have been discussing for much of the time. Section 28 should be deleted. It is entirely unnecessary. There are universities with degrees dating back hundreds of years which are internationally accepted, have high international status, attract international staff and have high rankings for citations, etc. I was not sure...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 37: In page 25, between lines 40 and 41, to insert the following subsection: "(5) In carrying out a review under subsection (1) of a recognised college the Authority shall consult with the University of Dublin.". It is slightly different, that the authority "shall consult with the University of Dublin". The previous discussions related to Trinity College. That is a...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for that. If it is not broken, do not fix it. If the external examination from abroad likes the course, if people want to study it, if people come from abroad to study and the lecturers are publishing research, that is the quality assurance procedure in a two-minute nutshell. There is no need to have anything further using up public money and people's time. I...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: Please continue.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I withdraw the amendments.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I accept the Minister of State's point on amendments Nos. 122, 125 and 126.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: Section 38(4) states: Each awarding body in the State shall, in respect of each award the body makes that is recognised within the Framework, ensure that a learner acquires the standard of knowledge, skill or competence associated with the level of that award within the Framework before an award is made. It is being done already. That is the point I have been making since the debate began....

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State. I believe we have gone completely the wrong way. The important part is the lecture hall, not the quality office. I do not know what the quality office is supposed to do in each place; it is irrelevant. I heard a description of one of the quality offices recently as a self-licking ice-cream. It is an múinteoir who is the important here. That is what...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State and Senators Averil Power, Jim D'Arcy and Fidelma Healy Eames. I agree with the Minister of State that this debate makes the case for the development of the Seanad rather than its abolition. My degree is from TCD, with some validation by the State. If some people think they are better at this, why do we not have a QQAI university? We will take them on any day...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: They are not necessary. With regard to previously established universities, the courses are up and running. If somebody says to my good friend, Professor Brendan Kennelly, that the quality board does not think he is good at poetry, he will say, "So what? Everybody else thinks I am good." The lecturing staff I know have to turn downs shoals of international invitations to give lectures;...

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: That is a very important point. Student evaluations, from my professional experience, are subject to caveats. If one marks a class very lightly, one will score really well in the opinion poll. Health warnings have to be attached to them. Certain subjects, such as thermodynamics and econometrics, are incredibly complex and difficult, and not even a saint will get a high mark because they...