Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 9, lines 34 to 36, to delete all words from and including "means" in line 34 down to and including "university" in line 36 and substitute the following:"means an autonomous body governed by students which promotes and represents the interests of students, both individual and collective".

This amendment sets out our proposal of a clear definition, meaning that a student union is, "an autonomous body governed by students, which promotes and represents the interests of students, both individual and collective". It is a clear definition of a student union and it certainly reflects the understanding of student unions that we have in Ireland and which student unions have put forward. It is a constructive proposal. I will not speak at length to all our other amendments but we have put forward a number of ways of dealing with what is a core problem in the Bill as currently drafted. There is a danger under the current definition that a student union's recognition and representation functions would derive from the recognition of its legitimacy by the institute or university rather than its own democratic mandate.

I know the Minister of State will want to speak to this as well but student unions play a crucial role in recognising that all cohorts of the university have their own power and representation. There is a real danger of that power being taken. I highlighted the question of the phrase, "or other student representative body" in the current definition as a serious concern, as it could potentially allow for the college administration to simply recognise any representative body or anything called a representative body, as I mentioned before. It could be a representative sample or teacher assistants under the employ of the university, for example. These could be made student partners, potentially circumventing the democratic mandate and role of the official student union in the event of a serious dispute. This is something we do not want to see and we want to ensure there are proper procedures in place that will work.

I note that concerns were raised about this by Fianna Fáil in the Dáil, where Deputy Thomas Byrne stated:

I have met the student unions and I have to say I am shocked by some of the stories I have heard about student unions not being recognised and colleges putting obstacles in their way. I have heard that about a number of colleges and I think it is wrong.

We have a chance to get this right and ensure there is no problem or false or damaging definitions in place. We know there is a problem and I am appealing to the Minister of State about this. She has taken on board constructive amendments and she has a history of working constructively with this House, taking on board ideas. There is a problem in how this is defined and set out currently. I will speak only briefly to our alternatives but it is key to note that there is a problem with the definition as currently set out. I am sure it is inadvertent but it is potentially dangerous. We know there are concerns and there have been instances of universities seeking to diminish the impact and effectiveness of student unions. We need to ensure we do not leave space for that in this Bill. We have a chance to prevent such wrongdoing.

Amendment No. 3 is our first and best choice because it has a strong definition of student union. It recognises the autonomy of the body as well as its gubernatorial and representative functions. I will return briefly to our alternate amendments as I propose them if they are to be taken under this grouping.