Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 1015: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the terms of reference and membership of the Review of Higher Education recently announced; the reason this review is necessary in such a short interval since the 2003-2004 review carried out by the OECD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10826/09]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 1016: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the 52 recommendations of the OECD Review of Higher Education; if he will list for each separately the action that was taken to implement it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10827/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1015 and 1016 together.

The report of the OECD Review of Higher Education in Ireland contained a series of recommendations related to the management and structure of the third level sector, as well as addressing wider policy and funding issues. The Government approved the broad thrust of the reform agenda outlined in the OECD report. The range of recommendations made by the OECD fall under a number of broad headings and significant progress has been made on each front as summarised below. Strategic Management of the Sector

The Institutes of Technology Act, which came into effect in February 2007, provided for the creation of a unified management structure for higher education in Ireland by bringing the Institute of Technology sector under the remit of the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The legislation also extends significant new managerial and academic autonomy to the Institutes, aimed at facilitating further development of their roles. The budgets of individual Institutes are now set by the HEA and the Department's specific approval to run individual courses or programmes is no longer required.

The Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), which was launched in 2006, supports the reform and modernisation agenda that is being pursued at both a national and a European level. The Irish higher education system aims to build world class quality and capacity and the SIF allows institutions to draw on their considerable respective strengths and form strong partnerships across sectoral and other barriers. €144 million has been awarded to date under this Fund.

As announced in the budget last October, the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council and the Further Education and Training Awards Council are to be amalgamated into a single agency. The new agency will also take responsibility for the external quality assurance function for the Universities currently performed by the Irish Universities Quality Board and the Higher Education Authority. In seeking to ensure a coherent approach to qualifications and quality assurance, there will also be discussions with the National University of Ireland (NUI) around the possibility of including some of the related functions of the NUI in the new organisation. Access and Retention

The latest National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2008-2013, which I launched in July of last year, sets the following targets for participation in higher education:

all socio-economic groups will have entry rates of at least 54% by 2020

mature students will comprise at least 20% of full-time entrants by 2013

the number of students with sensory, physical and multiple disabilities in higher education will be doubled by 2013

The plan also emphasises support for a range of diverse routes to higher education including access courses, the Higher Education Access Route, the supplementary admissions route for students with a disability and to support the NQAI and HETAC in the development of a national plan for the recognition of prior learning. Additionally, funding has been made available through the Strategic Innovation Fund to support these initiatives. Research

The Government is committed to developing Ireland's research and innovation capacity and the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation which was launched in 2006 provides the roadmap for action. The Government reiterated its commitment to implementing the SSTI in its Framework for Economic Renewal published in December 2008 and significant funding continues to be provided in this area.

The SSTI seeks to significantly increase the research capacity, quality and output of the Irish higher education research system by:

improving the research skills and capacity of third-level institutions;

raising the quality of teaching and learning activities in the institutions;

increasing the availability of highly skilled researchers in the labour force;

providing greater scope for collaboration between education and other sectors of the economy in respect of research.

The SSTI has set two overarching and interlinked goals for developing the research system — to build a sustainable system of world class research teams across all disciplines and to double our output of PhDs. Implementation structures have also been established for the SSTI — these comprise an Interdepartmental Committee which has responsibility for driving and monitoring the implementation of the strategy and reports to the Cabinet Sub Committee on Science Technology and Innovation. There are also two distinct but interrelated groups, the Higher Education Research Group and Technology Ireland. Both groups report back via their Chairs to the InterDepartmental Committee on the Science Technology and Innovation to ensure maximum coherence.

Investment in Higher Education

The Government is investing unprecedented levels of public funding in higher education with substantial improvements in the funding to the sector in recent years. Overall provision to the third level sector (capital, recurrent, student grants etc) amounted to some €1.5 billion in 2004, some €1.9 billion in 2007 and some €2 billion in 2008. This is an increase of over 33% since 2004.

There has been an increase of some 26% in the provision for the university and institute of technology sectors as the recurrent grant has been increased from some €1.1 billion in 2004 to some €1.39 billion in 2008. This excludes separately provided programmes of funding for capital, for research and development and from the Strategic Innovation Fund.

In 2006, the HEA commenced the phasing-in of a revised recurrent funding mechanism using a formulaic approach. This is an output-based model and contains provision for a greater proportion of funding to be allocated to institutions on the basis of performance and the achievement of national outcomes. Clarity, transparency and fairness as to how the institutions are funded are key objectives.

The phasing in of the first element of this new funding model commenced in the University Sector in 2006 (10% of funding allocated under the new model). This increased to 55% in 2007 and was implemented completely for 2008 funding.

Work has commenced on a similar funding model for the Institute of Technology sector with discussions at an advanced stage between the Higher Education Authority and the sector.

Fees

In contributing to the achievement of national policy goals for social and economic development, it can be anticipated that there will be continuing significant resource needs for the higher education sector. It is appropriate to raise questions around how future additional resource needs can be met and how our higher education institutions can be supported in their development ambitions through a widening of their non-exchequer sources of income. As the Deputy will be aware I am currently finalising a review of policy options relating to the introduction of a form of student contribution. It is my intention, following completion of the review currently under way, to bring proposals to Government in the near future in relation to the available options.

International Dimension

Since the OECD report in 2004, the number of international students recorded in Irish higher education institutions has risen by 45% to a figure of 27,275 in 2007. The Government is committed to the further internationalisation of the Irish higher education system and I will shortly be bringing forward proposals to introduce new regulatory and marketing co-ordination arrangements that will enhance the promotion of Irish education overseas.

National Strategy for Higher Education

Building on the reform agenda that has been under way since the publication of the OECD report 5 years ago and in recognition of the critical role that the higher education system plays in generating the skills, knowledge and innovation on which Ireland's future competitive advantage depends, it is timely to develop a new national higher education strategy which will provide a roadmap for the future development of the sector. The process to develop a new strategy was launched in early February. It will examine how well Ireland's higher education system is performing, how it ranks internationally, how well existing resources are being used and how the system can be re-configured to meet challenges. The strategy will work in tandem with existing strategies already developed by Government which affect the sector, such as the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation and the National Skills Strategy. The process is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It is being led by a high level steering group which draws on national and international expertise and includes representatives from business, community and student interests, as well as senior Government officials. Membership of the group, together with the Terms of Reference for the Strategy, are listed below

Steering Group Membership

Dr Colin Hunt, Economist,

Dr John Hegarty, Provost Trinity College Dublin

Marion Coy, President, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

Professor John Casteen, President of the University of Virginia

Professor Jussi Valimaa, University of Jyvaskyla

Dick Lehane, former Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Manufacturing at the EMC Corporation

Paul Rellis, Managing Director, Microsoft Ireland

Peter Cassells, Chair of the National Centre for Partnership Performance

Shane Kelly, President of USI

Michael Kelly, Chairman of Higher Education Authority

Dr Mary Canning, Former World Bank Education Specialist and authority member, HEA

Brigid McManus, Secretary General, Department of Education and Science

Martin Shanagher, Assistant Secretary, Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment

Mary Doyle, Assistant Secretary, Department of An Taoiseach

Robert Watt, Assistant Secretary, Department of Finance

Terms of Reference

1. To consider the role of Irish higher education in the context of higher education's role in modern societies and, in particular, in the modern knowledge society.

2. Describe and analyse the current environment of Irish higher education including: the current system in terms of its student numbers, funding, funding models, organisational arrangements and the roles of the different public and private entities involved in the higher education and research domain; the existing policy objectives; identification and assessment of external factors likely to influence change in the sector (e.g. demographics, student mobility) and; the international environment in which the Irish higher education system operates including the benchmarking of the system against relevant international comparators and higher education systems, processes and outcomes in other countries.

3. Having regard to the issues arising from 1 and 2 above, and from the process of consultation on those issues, to develop a vision and related set of national policy objectives for Irish higher education for the next 20 years with more focussed targets for the sector for the next five years.

4. Having regard to the outcomes of 3 above, and taking into account best international practice, identify the operational framework of the higher education system including the number and roles of institutions within it which will enable it to deliver on these policy objectives; recommend any changes required in the system of oversight and accountability that will support achievement of objectives; determine the level of resources required to achieve the stated objectives, look at the effectiveness of use of current resources, identify any potential for rationalisation or change to maximise the use of those resources and identify how any additional resource requirements can be met having particular regard to the difficult budgetary and economic climate that is in prospect in the medium term.