Results 7,781-7,800 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 55: In page 25, lines 21 and 22, to delete " and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform". This is a relatively straightforward proposal. As currently outlined, the section requires that if the HEA is to accept a gift of money, land or property, it requires my consent and that of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to do so. The amendment removes...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: This is not an amendment I would lose sleep over. It is more that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform does not have a specific role in a gift being received. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has conveyed this view to us. It provides administrative efficiency instead of having to go through two departmental processes. There are other provisions in the Bill whereby...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: Truthfully I do not know. I can check and revert to the Deputy in writing.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I am not mandated to speak for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on this but my sense is that the fact it flagged it and said it was not required here is that presumably it is not normal practice that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform's consent is required to receive something. I am open to correction on this. I have received advice from the officials that...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: Many will be pleased with that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I take the point the Deputy is making. When we read this in isolation it can sound a little stark. As the Deputy alludes to, it is a standard provision at the Committee of Public Accounts. From my memory of my days on the committee, at the beginning of every meeting this exact wording is articulated. It is a standard provision. We should not disrupt lines of accountability with regard to...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: An official in any Department would not go before the Committee of Public Accounts on policy matters either. We do not fully agree but I understand what the Deputy is saying. The CEO of the HEA can and should advise the Minister on policy issues. As a result of some of the improvements we have made to the Bill we have also included the funding issue. The CEO of the HEA can be invited...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: In my experience of dealing with CEOs of State agencies, and I say this with great fondness, they are well able to articulate and advocate for their agencies when they come before Oireachtas committee. They should do so and it is entirely appropriate. To be clear, this is not a wording created by me or the Department to endeavour to be in any way restrictive. It is simply seen by us and...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 58: In page 31, line 36, after “strategy,” to insert the following: "including policies relating to social, economic, cultural and environmental development and sustainability and the promotion and use of the Irish language,". This is to provide that the Minister shall in the preparation of the strategy for tertiary education have regard to policies...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the work he is doing on this legislation in ensuring it is as strong as it can be regarding the climate and biodiversity emergency. What I suggest we do here is similar to what I suggested the previous time we engaged on this topic on Committee Stage. Perhaps we could consider the range of amendments the Deputy has submitted on the climate and biodiversity emergency...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: As outlined by the Deputies, these amendments propose to include a provision, following "That the Minister shall, in preparation of a strategy, have regard to - ", referring to "the funding status of individual designated institutions of higher education". The section provides for the preparation of a strategy for tertiary education that encompasses "the further education and training system...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 63: In page 32, to delete lines 5 and 6 and substitute the following: “(5)The Minister shall, for the purposes of preparing or amending a strategy, consult with— (a) the Minister for Education and such other Ministers of the Government as the Minister considers appropriate, (b) An tÚdarás, (c) An tSeirbhís, (d) the Qualifications and...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I understand what the Deputy is saying. Far be it from me to speak for Deputy Ó Ríordáin but I presume he is concerned that instead of consulting the student unions, someone could consult some other body of students who were hand-picked.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: We will consider the matter between now and Report Stage. My understanding is that we are trying to provide flexibility to engage with students' unions but also with other bodies of students that may emerge and which are not students' unions. It is not intended to suggest consulting certain bodies ahead of others. For example, I meet with an excellent group from Trinity College Dublin, led...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I think that is the problem. It is a fair point. Let us try to strengthen that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 67: In page 32, to delete line 18 and substitute the following: “(a) the Minister, the Minister for Education and such other Ministers of the Government as An tÚdarás considers appropriate,”. This amendment simply states that I should consult with the Minister for Education on certain matters, considering the obvious links between the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: In an effort to be helpful, I agree with the Deputy on this matter. I believe I am capturing his amendment in Government amendments Nos. 69 and 70. Those amendments provide for consultation on the planning and provision of higher education in the State with trade unions or staff associations of members of staff of designated institutions which are recognised by those institutions. A...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I respond very quickly to the Deputy's requests.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 69: In page 32, line 22, to delete “and”.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Apr 2022)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 70: In page 32, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(f) trades unions or staff associations of members of staff of designated institutions of higher education which are recognised by those institutions, and”.