Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendments Nos. 6 and 7 from my experience of being involved with student unions. What concerns me most about the idea that a student union would be recognised by the governing authority or the Minister is that the power imbalance that inadvertently creates can impact on the type of activism or issues that a given student union may take up if it is at complete odds with a governing body or Minister at the time.That might be due to third level funding, BDS fees or any issues the students' unions have taken on over the years. It could also be about students taking more radical action, like taking over a building or protesting in a disruptive way. In that case, a governing authority might refuse to recognise that student body because it is progressive, is taking direct action or is getting in the way of governing board decisions. We cannot leave it in the gift of governing authorities to recognise students' unions. It would be like me having a mandate from the TCD electorate and then coming in here and having to ask the Oireachtas to recognise my mandate. It does not make sense in the flow of things. Once people are voted in on a mandate and that independent body exists, we should not be looking somewhere else for that to be recognised. We should know that ourselves because we have individual mandates as politicians, in the same way students' unions have their own individual mandates. I would hate for that power imbalance to affect the types of issues students' unions take on out of fear or because of the threat of not being recognised by the governing authority if that governing authority is conservative in relation to union action. I ask the Minister to look at these amendments between now and the next Stage. They are important amendments.