Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be in Seanad Éireann for Second Stage of this important legislation, the Higher Education Authority Bill 2022. I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the House on Second Stage.

It has been 50 years since the Higher Education Authority Act 1971 established the Higher Education Authority, HEA. That is the context. It is 50 years since we have legislated in this area. The Irish third level education system has been on an incredible journey during that period. In 1971, there were approximately just 20,000 students in higher education and this has increased to over 200,000 students in the present day. It is quite an extraordinary success in this country.

Higher education has become more accessible to all students in all parts of society, although we all accept that there is more work to do. Ireland now has one of the most highly educated workforces in the world. I put to the House that the single biggest transformation in Ireland over the recent decades is in and through education. We need to continue that transformation to meet the State's social, economic and labour market needs. In our colleges and universities, we develop the right skills for our future workforce, and we do much more than that. We nurture the societal benefits of education and we build our research capacity to drive forward innovation.

This Bill repeals the 1971 Act and marks a new dawn for our higher education system. It maintains a reformed HEA and brings in generational changes, all of which are key to the development and progress of our human talent and capability. The Bill repeals the Higher Education Authority Act 1971 and reforms the legislative framework for higher education, enabling improved policy development and planning in the sector, a focus on the needs of the learner not just the institution and improved oversight and regulation of higher education institutions, HEIs. The reforms in this Bill will: improve oversight, including in respect of financial matters; focus more on the needs of the learner; and enable improved policy development.