Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 32:

In page 15, to delete lines 20 and 21 and substitute the following: “(a) 3 persons from amongst persons nominated by each designated institution for that purpose;

(b) 1 person from amongst persons nominated by student unions of each designated institution for that purpose;”.

I will be brief because we have a number of amendments to get through. The Bill specifies four persons "nominated by each designated institution". Of course, "nominated by each designated institution" and by the corporate leadership of a designated institution is not necessarily the same as ensuring we have representation from those who make up the electorate or those who are in the constituency. As I said, I made two suggestions, one of which was that there would be two persons nominated by the institution, one person nominated by the students' union of the designated institution and perhaps one by the trade unions representing staff. That would allow for a more holistic representation for a higher education institution from all those constituent parts, that is, the staff and students as well as the administration of an institution. That is amendment No. 33.

Probably more crucial, and if not worth considering here then in the Dáil, is amendment No. 32, which suggests that among the four persons nominated by a designated institution, at least one person would be nominated by the students' union of a designated institution for that purpose. Again, when we look to the institutions, the electoral franchise is not the property of the institutions. It is the students themselves. The students who will become the graduates make up the constituency. In some cases, of course, the students' union contains the graduate students' union. When the Higher Education Authority Act was coming through, the importance of ensuring student representation was recognised and that a students' union representative brings something different to the table on the boards of our higher institutions rather than those chosen solely by the administration of a higher education institution. I was very glad that the then Minister, Deputy Harris, accepted the principle and agreed to the inclusion of a students' union representation on the boards of the higher education institutions. It would be a good and consistent decision to say that among the four who are coming from each designated institution, at least one of those would be a students' union representative. Again, those are the students. They are the franchise holders, effectively, or future franchise holders. Amendment No. 32 is practical, and it is also consistent with the positions the Government has taken with regard to the HEA Bill.