Written answers
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Third Level Staff
Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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1915. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the members of all technical university boards across the country; the process involved in selecting members for these boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11702/25]
James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the information he has requested concerning the members of the technical university boards is not available in my Department. Officials are currently arranging for the compilation of the information sought and it will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible. I would note that information on the members of the governing boards is available on the individual technological university websites (links are included as an appendix below).
The selection of governing body members for technological universities in Ireland is primarily governed by the Technological Universities Act 2018 (as amended by the Higher Education Authority Act 2022). The legislation provides for the composition, functions, and regulations for the selection of members of these bodies.
Under the Act, the governing body of a technological university is a 19 member body consisting of the university's president; five internal members who are elected staff representatives, three of whom are academic staff, one non-academic staff, and one who is elected by both; three student representatives; a chairperson, who is an external member; and nine additional competency based external members, three of whom are nominated by the Minister.
The Act provided that the TU governing bodies created regulations relating to the selection, election, nomination or appointment of members of the governing body as the body thinks fit, which were approved by the then Minister. As such, the selection, election, nomination or appointment of members needs to be carried out in accordance with those regulations.
The Act mandates that at least 40% of the governing body members must be women and at least 40% must be men. This provision ensures gender balance and promotes diversity within the university's leadership. Similarly, the membership of the governing body must also take into account the different locations of the campuses of the technological university and broadly reflect the composition of Irish society, including persons who are competent in the Irish language.
Appendix 1 - Links to the TU Websites regarding Governing Bodies
: www.atu.ie/about/governance.
: www.mtu.ie/about-mtu/governance/governing-body/.
: www.setu.ie/about/governance-and-management/governing-body/members-documents-agendas-minutes.
: www.tudublin.ie/explore/about-the-university/governance/.
: tus.ie/governance/governing-body/.
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