Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I anticipated there would be a good debate on the OECD report. I thank the Senators for their contributions. It is useful to hear from people with first-hand experience in the third level sector as students, lecturers or so forth. It affects us all.

It is evident that people have spoken from regional perspectives as well as with regard to issues of access. Much of the debate resolves around the institute of technology-university divide. It is important to reiterate that maintaining their equal status as part of a higher education structure, but with different roles, is envisaged in any changes. Both are essential to our higher education for progression and regional development, as well as for degree, postgraduate, undergraduate, certificate and diploma levels. The aim of each of the sectors and all of the institutes in the country is to continue to improve, upskill and upgrade.

There are seven universities in this country and nine on this island. I can envisage everyone taking advantage of this fact through further co-operation, a greater mix of students and staff and sharing experiences. Each region desires a top quality, third level education and institution. This will improve student participation rates, attract industry and ensure a regional balance throughout the country. One institute that has been mentioned, Waterford, is well known for the top quality progression and courses it offers. On behalf of the institutes, the director of the Waterford institute made the presentation at the round table talks during our recent visit to China. The institutes have carried out good work.

It is interesting to note that GMIT is a world-class university but is not a university, as was stressed by Senator O'Toole, neither are the Geneva Institute nor the London School of Economics. What is important is to have quality education and access to it for as many people as possible.

I accept Senators' comments on the humanities and the arts. We did not particularly ask the OECD to examine these areas. We did not ask it to avoid examining them, hence they should not have been ignored completely. I have a humanities background and, in the context of a broad education where students can reach their potential and gain a balanced outlook on life to contribute to society and culture, we must have an advanced humanities and arts programme. I will not accept the proposal that the humanities council will be subsumed into Science Foundation Ireland. We could not hope for it to retain its identity if that occurred. I see no threat in this report to humanities and the arts in institutes and universities.

I, too, met one of this report's authors and told him he had given me the blueprint for higher education. He replied that he had not but that he and his colleagues did give us a set of proposals from which to choose. There were many discussions on funding, which is crucial. There were some discrepancies in that people said that on the one hand the universities need to be funded but, on the other, requested that there be no fees for evening and part-time courses. A balance has to be found. It is important to note that funding has increased by 90% in the universities sector in seven years.