Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are writing legislation that will be there long after us. It will be referred to by generations to come and there will be legal arguments over it, etc. It is just possible that a president of a technological university might not particularly like the president of the student union and might not want him or her anywhere near the academic council.The relevant line refers to such number of students of the technological university as it considers appropriate. The president of a technological university might decide that it was appropriate to have no student representative and the legislation would support him, provided the board also supported him. It is not unreasonable to consider amendment No. 20 which would allow for at least one representative. It would not bring the Bill down on its knees. It is not a massive ask. There should always be some guarantee that there will be student representation.