Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have some sympathy, but the question here is around the purpose of the advisory committee. The purpose of the advisory committee is not to advise on higher education policy more generally. It is on the functioning of the register of electors and how this electorate is constituted. It is also critical to remember that it is electing Members of the Seanad. They are not representative of any sector in the sense that they are not representative of students. It is slightly different as well, in that we are looking here at graduates. I have no problem with a student being potentially included. In many ways, however, it could be that graduate representatives are probably more appropriate because, if you like, they are the people who are going to represent the electorate in this regard.

It is important, however. With any advisory committee or anything else, it is around the competence of those who are sitting on the committee. The question is around what they are being asked to advise. It is to advise the chief registration officer on the performance of his or her functions under this Part and the Schedule. The key question is really around those who are appointed and that there is as broad a range as possible in terms of backgrounds. Certainly, I would anticipate that some of those who will be appointed will be people with a knowledge of electoral law, for example. There may be a need, as per our last discussion, for people to have a knowledge of marketing and how to encourage people to get on a register and so on. It is important that there is diversity within it in terms of a gender balance and geographical balance, which will be critical.This applies even where the nominees come from designated institutions, not just geographically but in terms of the type of institution the nominees are selected by. I looked at this section in the context of proposing a potential amendment but I am always reluctant to be too prescriptive because there may be particular requirements with regard to certain appointments.

I respect where Senator Higgins is coming from. Regarding the HEA legislation, I would have been supportive of increased student representation because of the function that is there. What is more critical is the competency of those who are going to be appointed. Part of it would be the process by which the persons are nominated by each designated institution. For example, will it be the case that every designated institution can put forward one name or several names? What are the criteria that will be used? Will there be a balancing of those nominated by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the two other persons? It will be critical to look at this new advisory committee’s full remit and what it is going to be doing. Will it simply be looking at how the elections are conducted or will it have the broader remit of ensuring people get on the register, advising An Coimisiún Toghcháin and looking not just at the conduct of our elections but encouraging people to vote, as well as the research that is done around that? What will be critical is teasing out some of the terms of reference of this committee. It is on that basis that the competencies of those who should be appointed is a key issue.