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

These are technical amendments which will allow QQI the flexibility to remove individual awards of listed awarding bodies from the national framework of qualifications, NFQ, where they no longer meet the relevant policies and criteria. I would like to inform the committee that I will be bringing further amendments to this section on Report Stage. This section provides the legislative mechanism for the inclusion of awards in the NFQ. Following consultation with stakeholders, amendments will be brought forward to provide a more streamlined process primarily for the inclusion in the framework of those awards made by designated awarding bodies. This new process will serve to avoid the duplication of regulatory activities and reduce administrative burden both on the bodies in question and on QQI.