Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The general scheme of a universities (amendment) Bill 2012 is now in circulation. It is draconian and allows an investigator to take over many of the functions of a university for two years at the instigation of the Minister for Education and Skills. It is a time of excitable moods in the sector - excitable bureaucrats and so on.

However, the implications are far reaching. There are mechanisms to deal with the employment control framework and people who exceed budgets rather than by changing the Universities Act, which took quite an amount of legislative time to pass. Before the heads become a Bill, I hope emphasis will be placed on those who exceed their budgets rather than on the disruption of education as a whole. It is wise that we do not use a small crisis to precipitate a larger one in higher education.