Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

The point of the Bill is to ensure the student experience is as positive as it can be. I understand, from the debate on Second Stage, that it is the intention that standards would be set at national level for student consultation and there would not just be a broad requirement for it. Best practice should be set out at national level because while some institutions have good standards, there are differences between and within institutions. Some faculties within institutions have excellent procedures and others do not.

There are differences in respect of how students are selected to participate and how they are supported. Sometimes people are given one day's notice and asked to go to a review meeting without any proper documentation. Some students are hand-picked for that purpose while others are selected through student unions or student councils. A lot more needs to be done to ensure student feedback is a real process and not a box-ticking exercise.

Students should be empowered to make a real contribution. At the end of the process what comes from student feedback should be implemented. The end of the quality assurance process from a student point of view should not involve walking out of a review meeting and the results being sent to the Department. There should be real reporting to students, students unions and academic councils on the issues identified and steps being taken to address them.

I accept some of what Senator Barrett said about good procedures. I appreciate it is a few years since I was a student representative in TCD but I found some areas were better than others. I understand from my contacts with current student representatives that is still the case. There are significant differences between universities, and better processes are used in some departments within institutions.

Improvements can be made and I hope the authority would have a very strong function in promoting best practice and getting to the nuts and bolts of what is being measured and the actions that will be taken within institutions. There should not just be a general requirement for consultation, rather standards should be set for how consultation takes place.