Sean Barrett (Independent)

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 21, subsection (3), line 25, after "with" to insert the following:

"the Governing Authority and Academic Council of the".

This amendment is in the spirit of consultation about which the Minister of State spoke. It proposes that the authority should also consult the governing authorities and academic councils of the relevant providers. There is an unfortunate recent tradition, also manifest in the Bill, of the Department ringing officers in a university to get a yea or nay answer. Matters are not being discussed and this is adding to the problems. That system must be circumvented by the proposed amendment. The provosts and presidents of universities are not chief executive officers to be asked what they think of this or that. They are required to consult the bodies which elected them. A university is a collegiate institution, not a managerial one. I am, therefore, seeking to extend participation rights. Let matters be brought before governing bodies. If the Bill had been placed before governing bodies, we might have received many interesting proposals. I am seeking to extend discussion within the functioning bodies to include representative interests, elected persons and those directly involved, rather than accepting a yea or nay answer from a narrow administrative elite.