Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have sympathy with Senator Higgins in the context of where she is coming from. Again, this is not prescriptive. For example, there is no requirement that it shall include a nominee of employers’ representatives or particular grades of staff, whether academic or non-academic. It comes back to the core question around competencies. I disagree with Senator Higgins on one point. I think higher education institutions have been particularly good at promoting student participation and student inclusion, and their record is generally quite strong. Student unions may not always agree with the decisions of the university but the engagement in the participation process has greatly improved. As the Minister outlined, the record has often been that where gaps are discovered, Ministers tend to fill them. When there was no student representative on the HEA, the then Minister of Education, Deputy Micheál Martin, filled one of the posts with a student representative. Similarly, the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, recently ensured that a student would be appointed to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment for the first time.

What is probably more critical is the issue of graduates because this is about a voting system for graduates of institutions, who are a much more disparate group. One of the questions that we have not really addressed is that while there will be many graduates within the State, an issue that is already facing the NUI and Trinity panels is the number of graduates residing outside the State.The question of how we engage with those people is going to be an issue for these elections. It is going to be particularly exciting. I agree that there are students who could potentially be excellent on the marketing and advertising side, but this is an advisory committee and I do not agree that we should tie anyone's hands. We must focus on its role and function, in particular the fact that it is about graduates. That is what is critical.