Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire, agus cuirim fáilte freisin roimh an mBille atá os ár gcomhair inniu. Tabharfaidh an Bille tacaíocht dhlíthiúil don chúigiú tosaíocht den phlean straitéiseach atá á chur i bhfeidhm ag Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh, i láthair na huaire. Is é sin plean straitéiseach do na cúig bliana idir 2003 agus 2008.

Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil gach ball den údarás d'aon ghuth ar son an leasuithe seo. Tá suil agam go bhfuil gach Seanadóir cinnte chomh maith go n-éascaíonn an leasú forbairt dhearfach do dhul chun chinn na Gaeilge in obair na hollscoile.

I dtosaíocht straitéiseach uimhir 5, fócas ar dhiminsean na Gaeilge, tá an bhéim ar bhealaí nuálacha agus praiticiúla a cheapadh agus a sheachadadh chun go gcomhlíonfar ar an tslí is fearr ról speisialta na hollscoile ó thaobh tacú leis an nGaeilge mar theanga bheo in ard-oideachas agus i léann.

Ar na tionscnaimh shonracha atá luaite, tá struchtúr nua comhtháite, is é sin, acadamh na hollscolaíochta Gaeilge, á bhunú taobh istigh den ollscoil, chun cláir acadúla trí Ghaeilge a phleanáil agus a chur i bhfeidhm, cláir a bheidh ag freastal ar riachtanais oideachais agus forbartha an phobail.

I welcome the Minister and, especially, her decision to bring forward this Bill. Even though it is an amendment Bill with only two sections, it is extremely important in terms of acknowledging the Irish dimension and ethos in NUIG. It releases, in the absence of a better word, the university to realise its vision, to reach out for its destiny with regard to the quality and excellence of the academic programmes it wishes to provide to its students and to develop its strategies.

This legislation is a response to the second strategic plan by NUIG. The university is midway through the second phase of an ongoing planning programme and it can be proud of the achievements it made since commencing its first formal strategic plan in 1995. Over the past decade, NUIG has developed on many fronts and, with its first class research facilities, improved student services and planned approach, it justifiably attracts significant levels of funding from the Minister's Department. As Senator Ulick Burke pointed out, it can take on the best, not only in Ireland, but also in Europe. Campus facilities have been significantly expanded and a vibrant research ethos has been developed in all departments, on which it is to be commended.

The aim of the second strategic plan is to establish NUIG as a world-class centre of learning and research. That will be worlds away from the university's origin in the mid-1840s as a queen's college. Amidst a blaze of controversy, it was established as a compromise solution to a bitter debate between church and state. Such debates never seem to go away, although we have come light years from those times. For many years, we only had Trinity College, which catered mainly for Protestant students, which led Catholics and Presbyterians to lobby for balance and greater access by students of these denominations to third level education. That campaign resulted in the establishment of three non-denominational queen's colleges, in Galway, Cork and Belfast.

That compromise did not resolve the issue, however, because Catholic bishops objected to the promotion of a non-denominational ethos. They prohibited Catholic students from attending the colleges unless certain demands were met and until Catholic professors were appointed as heads of the disciplines studied by Catholic students. For many years, these objections, as well as the inadequate educational structure which then existed in the west, had the result that student numbers never rose much higher than 100. However, the establishment in 1845 and opening in 1849 of the university was significant for Galway, which was then a small and remote city. Student numbers have since risen dramatically, with 13,000 to 15,000 students now attending NUIG.

That is one example of the transformation in third level participation rates, not only in Galway but throughout the country. The system of higher education has changed since the 1840s and the later introduction of the University College Galway Act 1929. We have moved on greatly since then.

Higher education was an elite and austere system. Our universities were valuable centres of higher learning and reflection, but removed from the ordinary people. There was little or no contact with, relationship with or reaching out to the ordinary people. They did not impinge on the majority of Irish people for whom free secondary education was still decades away. In contrast, Ireland's higher education system now occupies a central place in our national consciousness and enjoys mass participation. Over 50% of school leavers proceed to higher education. In the modern knowledge age it has become vital, as the Minister outlined, for our future social and economic progress. It is no surprise, therefore, that the legislative provision dating back to 1929 is antiquated, out-of-date, impractical and inhibits the progress of NUI Galway. This amending legislation addresses that and aims to set it aside as obsolete.

Ireland's competitiveness in the knowledge age will depend on our ability to support higher value activities and jobs in the emerging knowledge industries such as ICT and the bio-sciences. As the shape of global competition changes, we are no longer seeking to compete on cost but on the quality of our educated workforce, on its adaptability, ability to innovate and create and on the strength of our capacity for research and development. These factors will determine our ability to attract and retain jobs in a highly competitive global environment. The quality of our universities and institutes of technology will be an increasingly important determinant of our success in achieving our national development objectives.

The Government is now embarking on an unprecedented programme of investment in higher education and I am glad Senator Ulick Burke acknowledged that. It targets in a very special way the needs that have been flagged for third level and post-third level education in terms of the knowledge economy and research and development. I welcome the Minister's commitment to that as demonstrated recently when she announced details of a €1.2 billion investment in infrastructure and in supporting change and collaboration in the sector. Plans for a new national research plan will be considered by the Cabinet committee shortly. These will reflect our ambitions to step up Ireland's research and development performance in supporting our national strategic goals.

A high performing third level sector that can produce quality graduates and a top-quality fourth-level system of postgraduate education and research will be essential pieces of our national infrastructure for social and economic development. In that context the provisions of the 1929 Act requiring NUI Galway to give preference to applicants with lrish language competence are no longer relevant but obsolete. They belong to a different age, to divisions of educators in the context of their time. They are extremely inhibiting and impractical and the Minister has rightly decided to set them side and move on in full consultation with and with support from NUI Galway.

The requirement serves no useful purpose for the promotion of the Irish language. That vision, methodology and mindset thankfully belongs to the past. It is an impediment for NUl Galway in competing, as it must for the future, for the best available international research and academic talent. If we are serious about developing international excellence in research and in higher education in Ireland, as the Government's investment plans indicate, our institutions need to be supported in building excellence. For NUI Galway that means being free to attract and appoint the very best academics and researchers.

As the Taoiseach pointed out at the weekend, knowledge is international and intellectual capital is highly mobile. The quality of higher education in Ireland must be measured against the highest standards across the world. In competing internationally, it is counterproductive to place outdated 1920s recruitment requirements on one of our key institutions. In removing this recruitment restriction the Minister's amending legislation reinforces the commitment of NUI Galway to the Irish language and is therefore positive and progressive. The outdated provision is replaced by a commitment that the college, in its strategic development plan, will include in its statement of objectives and priorities a commitment to the provision of university education through the Irish language. This ensures that the language will retain its valued place at the heart of NUI Galway's core educational mission.

NUI Galway welcomes this legislation. It is d'aonghuth, united and unanimous in support of the Minister's action and that is refreshing and good to see. In line with the Minister's vision NUI Galway looks forward to the great challenges and embraces them with courage and commitment. This amending legislation enables the university to compete for staff in an even-handed manner on a level playing pitch. It will support the university's quest for excellence in teaching, research and the promotion and provision of university education through Irish. The Bill is a vote for the future of third-level education in NUI Galway. It is progressive legislation for the university and the Irish language and I support it.