Results 6,061-6,080 of 10,573 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: I think there should be plans and I think there is an onus on the Department of Education and Skills to check.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Do you accept that by inflating points to a certain level it makes universities more attractive? If a person is out there flogging a university to get money into a trust fund, which can be kept at arm's length from the university, is it not in the university's best interest not to have points at a depressed level, even if it actually fits the course? Is it not in the college's or the...

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am surprised that the Department of Education and Skills and the HEA take the attitude that we will just move on from here. I think the practice of colleges knowingly making sure that somebody who may be very capable of doing an assigned course is left out-----

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: -----because the college wants to inflate them.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: That is not their role.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Their role is as an educator.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Do you accept then that the HEA has no intention of investigating it?

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Because-----

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: The one thing that is-----

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: -----missed from this is that the college's role is as an educator. It is to provide education. It is not there to be some sort of self-gratification, going around with inflated points and egos.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am surprised that the Department of Education and Skills has taken this kind of arm's length attitude-----

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: -----to-----

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: You have heard the-----

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: You have heard the head of the HEA just say it.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: With respect, Chairman, Mr. Ó Foghlú heard the head of the HEA tell me he has no intention of investigating this or doing anything with it.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: That is not acceptable.

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: I will move on to another issue which comes up perennially here, which is trusts within universities and colleges, and money winding up funding academic and administrative staff and research outside of the ambit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Where does the HEA stand on this?

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Will this be done across the board?

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: So all of the financial statements from now on-----

Public Accounts Committee: Higher Education Authority: Financial Statements 2014 (24 Sep 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: To go back to a previous point on the financial statements, the last time the witnesses were here we had a big argy-bargy on audit committees. Do all of our third level institutions now have functioning audit committees? The last time we were here and we went down this road we did not know whether they were meeting, we did not know who was on them and we had no records of them. They might...