Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 117:

In page 80, to delete lines 4 to 39, and in page 81, to delete lines 1 to 37 and substitute the following:

“90. The Act of 2018 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 12: “12. (1) Subject to this Part, a governing authority, shall consist not less than 14 members and not more than 26 members as determined in accordance with this Chapter.

(2) The members of a governing body shall be—

(a) the chairperson, who shall be an external member, appointed by the governing authority,

(b) external members (including the chairperson) of the governing authority shall comprise not less than 40 per cent of its membership,

(c) the president,

(d) internal members (other than the president):

(i) not less than 3 members of the academic staff of the technological university, elected by the academic staff of the technological university;

(ii) not less than one member of the non-academic staff of the technological university, elected by the non-academic staff of the technological university; and

(iii) not less than one member of the academic or non-academic staff of the technological university, elected by the academic and non-academic staff of the technological university, and

(e) not less than two student members elected by students,

(f) not less than one postgraduate student elected by the postgraduate students,

(g) not less than one trade union representative of academic staff in the sector, nominated by the relevant trade union(s),

(h) not less than one trade union representative of non-academic staff in the sector, nominated by the relevant trade union(s).

(3) The internal members of a governing body shall be elected for appointment as such internal members in accordance with regulations made under subsection (7).

(4) Subject to subsection (5), with regard to the appointment of external members of a governing body—

(a) 3 such members shall be nominated by the Minister, and

(b) at least 6 such members shall be appointed by the governing authority in accordance with a process for such appointments that is determined by the governing authority and approved by the Minister.

(5) Before a person is nominated for appointment or appointed, as may be appropriate, as an external member of a governing body of a technological university, the Minister or the governing body of the technological university, as the case may be, shall be satisfied that the person is suitable for appointment as such an external member by reason of his or her possessing knowledge of, and experience in, matters connected with the objects and functions of the technological university to enable him or her to make a substantial contribution to the effective and efficient performance of those functions.

(6) (a) The term of office of a member of the governing body, other than the president, shall not exceed 4 years and such a member may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms of office.

(b) A member of the governing body who is a student at the technological university shall hold office for such period, not exceeding one year, as the governing body may determine but may be re-elected for a further period not exceeding one year.

(7) A governing body shall, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations relating to the selection, election, nomination or appointment of members of the governing body as it thinks fit, and their selection, election, nomination or appointment shall be carried out in accordance with those regulations.

(8) In performing functions under this section, the Minister and a governing body shall have regard to the objectives that—

(a) not less than 40 per cent of the members of the governing body shall be women and not less than 40 per cent of them shall be men,

(b) the membership of the governing body shall take account of the different locations of the campuses of the technological university,

(c) at least 20 per cent of members shall have a level B2 or higher of competency in spoken Irish on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and

(d) the membership of the governing body shall broadly reflect the composition of Irish society, including persons who are competent in the Irish language.

(9) In this section—

‘external member’, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body other than an internal member or a student member thereof or a member of the academic council of the technological university;

‘internal member’, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body who is a member of the staff of the technological university or a person who is remunerated under a contract with the technological university;

‘student member’, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body who is a student at the technological university.”.”.