Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank her for coming here at short notice. I am sure she is aware of the concern that the arts and education communities have about the fragile governance of the National College of Art and Design which has been without a board for almost five months. That situation is without precedence, particularly when one considers that only last Friday I attended the final graduates' exhibition of some wonderful postgraduate and graduate students. The college has an extraordinary and wonderful atmosphere. The college has no board and there is an extraordinary disarray between the directorate and the students due to a lack of trust. The breakdown of trust between the students and the directorate has been further exacerbated by the fact that the Minister has not appointed a board in five months. Today I heard rumours about the matter and hope we will hear good news. When will the Minister appoint a board? Why has there been a delay? A five month delay in appointing any State board is an extraordinary omission and is of concern to the students I spoke to on Friday evening. Where were the board vacancies advertised? it was quite difficult for me to find where those vacancies were advertised. Was it throughpublicjobs.ie, or theStateboards.ie.? Does the Minister consider it is acceptable in terms of governance that the Department of Education and Skills has left the NCAD organisation without a board for so long?