Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

Fianna Fáil supports this Bill. In fact, it is delivering on a commitment we set out in Government to amalgamate the various qualifications and quality assurance bodies. It has the potential to be a hugely positive development for many of the reasons the Minister set out in his opening address and it will make it possible to pool the experiences and expertise the various bodies have built up. Generally, they have done a very good job and have developed and become much more successful in recent years. It will enable them to deliver plans more effectively across the whole sector, which is crucial, from further education up to higher education.

It will be easier for providers to have to deal with only one body. We have had experience of the complications that can arise when institutions have to deal with more than one body. Also, establishment of the authority should simplify procedures and make them more effective in terms of enabling progression across the system.

Continuous improvement of our education system and of the quality of education is of huge economic and social importance. This legislation has the potential to assist in that regard. Rather than repeat all of the excellent points made by the Minister in his address, I will focus on a number of areas which it is hoped will be a priority for the Minister and authority. Ultimately, quality assurance is about the student experience and ensuring students have the best possible experience of education. The procedures in place for quality assurance should reflect this. It is important that students' voices and feedback are heard at all levels. In every institution and on every course where quality is being considered, there should be student representatives. I am a former student representative having served while in Trinity as education officer and president on the academic council and board. It is important to ensure there is more than one student representative. Often, a student representative can find himself or herself the only student in the room, which is a difficult position to be in. It is important to ensure the right procedures are followed in choosing students for such panels. Students should not be selected because they might be helpful and so on. Those chosen should be vocal and confident and not intimidated by the fact they might be sitting on a course review with lecturers.

It is important also to ensure student representatives have the training and supports they need. There has been a gap in this respect in the past. I know that the Union of Students in Ireland has made a proposal to the Minister in regard to the Scottish system. I would like to hear the Minister's views on that or whether there are other effective arrangements that could be put in place to ensure training and basic supports such as briefing material and so on is provided so that the students know what their role is, what they are empowered to do, where they can get advice and so on, all of which is important.

I welcome that there will be a student representative on the authority and that the student will be representative of students rather than from a stakeholder body. That is important. I ask that the Minister ensure that students are empowered at all levels. While some institutions have been good at this it is remarkable that while some universities have a number of students on their boards others have only one and that while some universities recognise student unions others do not. Also, some institutions have good procedures for involving students on quality assurance and view it as a positive, which is how it should be viewed. Partnership with learners is the best way to improve. It is in every institution's interest to improve. We learned from the recent university ranking that the quality of the student experience is valued internationally. It is important that the new authority also focus on that issue.

It is important the right balance between internal and external review is achieved. I know that the authority's main role will be external quality assurance. As the Minister correctly stated, the universities have good internal procedures. The main role of the authority will be to support self-evaluation, of which we do not have enough at all levels of our education system. Self-evaluation is crucial. Empowering leadership in institutions at course, departmental and faculty levels and giving people the tools they require to do the job rather than leave them constantly worrying what an external body might say about them is also important.

The Minister referred in his speech to the fact that access, transfer and progression will be key part of the remit of the new authority. Merging the agencies should help in this regard. There is no doubt but that the new framework of qualifications promoted by the previous Government has helped and progression has opened up somewhat. However, we still have a long way to go. I welcome that the new authority will publish procedures for setting out progression pathways. I ask that that be prioritised. That should be one of the first matters to which the authority attends. It is important people, in particular those who did not have a first chance opportunity to go through the whole education system, have a clear path to progression, be it from their local further education college to Trinity. The procedures for doing so should be obvious.

The Minister also spoke about the international reputation of our education system. I welcome that the authority will encourage providers to provide for an international education mark based on their compliance with the code of conduct. Our colleges are not alone ambassadors for the education system but for the country as a whole and when things go wrong or problems arise our reputation as a whole can be damaged. Perhaps the Minister will say if he has had discussions with the Minister for Justice and Equality and other Ministers in regard to link-in in terms of the education mark and student visas.

Fianna Fáil supports the legislation, which pretty much does what it states. I am concerned in the main about the strategies the authority will put in place. I must emphasise that the student experience is a crucial part of this and as such thinking in respect of the new authority should start with the learner at the centre and work out from there. Fianna Fáil will be tabling a number of technical amendments on Committee Stage. The Minister may have received the communication also received by other Members from City & Guilds in regard to a number of definitional issues, which appear reasonable to me. It is in respect of those issues that we propose to table amendments on Committee Stage.