Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are engaging in good faith. I made myself available as the Seanad ordered its business. On Senator Craughwell’s point on the TUI and the issue of full representation, and I accept his bona fides as well as his long, distinguished relationship with the TUI, we have made progress on representation on governing authority boards. That was warmly welcomed at the TUI congress in Wexford. It was something it had sought for a long time.

We are making a different and distinct point in relation to the HEA board, because if there is a seat here and a seat there, it very quickly becomes a representational board rather than a competency-based board. However, I accept, and there is no point in being disingenuous on my part, that it could be presented as an anomaly. I have made a conscious decision to put a seat in place for students on the board of an t-údarás. Beyond that, we have not done so for any other representative group, and a compelling case could be made for many. Beyond that, we have decided to go through the normal public appointment process, which is competency-based. I think and hope that is the correct balance.