Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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131. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide the total number of recommendations in the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 that have been implemented; if we will further provide an update on each recommendation implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48024/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Implementation Plan which sets out the actions necessary to implement the recommendations in the National Strategy for Higher Education is available on my Department's website at . The Plan also identifies the lead organisations and the timeframe for implementation of each action. A detailed progress report on the implementation of all of the actions in the Plan to the end of 2012 is also available on the website. To date in 2013 other measures implemented under the Plan include the major re-organisation of the higher education system which I announced in May which will provide for the reduction in the size of the publicly funded higher education system from 39 to 25 institutions and the publication in July of the new performance framework for the higher education system. This framework sets out the Government's national priorities, key system objectives and key performance indicators for the period 2014-16. The configuration report and the performance framework are also available on my Department's website.

The HEA will report on the performance of the system as a whole to me on annual basis. A new process of strategic dialogue to agree performance compacts aligned with performance funding with each of the higher education institutions is now being rolled out by the HEA as part of the overall framework.

The implementation of a number of the recommendations in the strategy will also require amendment to existing legislation and the enactment of new legislation. The process of drafting this legislation is also underway and I expect to publish the draft Heads of a Technological sector Bill before the end of the year.