Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 16, on page 19, provides that academic staff shall form the majority of the academic council of a technological university. It also provides the governing body of each technological university, including its student members - this implies there will be student members in the governing body - with flexibility to decide for itself the overall number of members the academic council should have, including the number of students on it. That is in line with the legislation applying to universities. Section 28(1)(c) of the Universities Act 1997 provides that the composition of the academic council should include an "appropriate number of students". I would not propose to move away from the standard wording as this would put technological universities in a different position from that of other universities.

The Bill amends section 10 of the Regional Technical College Act 1992 and section 11 of the Dublin Institute of Technology Act 1992 to mirror the wording of the provisions of the Universities Act in order to provide for uniformity across the sector. The governing body, not the president, makes regulations to provide for the numbers of members on the academic council of the technological university and the procedures for selection and appointment. The governing body will include student members. Therefore, I do not envisage circumstances in which a governing body would not include students in the academic council. Therefore, I cannot support the amendment.