Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 1 relates to a group elected by their peers as a student union. The Minister might clear up one issue for me. As I know from my trade union days, there is always a risk of fringe groups. I would hope the direction the HEA would give in the establishment of a student union is that it would be all-encompassing and that special interest groups would be encompassed within the union, and I would have no difficulty with the union being set up on that basis. Any student body that would allow a student union to be set up without a formal election would be negligent, rather than the HEA or any other organisation like that. I am concerned we are becoming more and more micro in different facets of life in Ireland, and what we do not need in any representative body are fringe groups or splits. There is an old saying in Ireland that the first job of every committee is to sit down and organise the split. We want student unions that represent all interests within the college, including all micro interests. Other than that, I accept the Minister's position with respect to the amendment.