I refer again to the website of the Department of Education. It states: The board of management manages the school on behalf of the patron and is accountable to the patron and the Minister. The board must uphold the characteristic spirit (ethos) of the school and is accountable to the patron for so doing. We are coming back to the characteristic spirit of the school and the ethos the board has to maintain. If it is not doing so, it is accountable to the patron and the Minister.

Now.

Now.

I want to see more of the night-time economy so I welcome this motion. I know there was a briefing today. I apologise because I was unable to make it. I take on board Senator Warfield's point that there were hundreds of nightclubs in this country in previous years. In Ballinasloe, we had three nightclubs when I was growing up, which was fantastic. Unfortunately, that is not the case now. There are many reasons for that, such as changes in the population. I must admit it was fantastic to have that, so I very much su…

That makes me smile - left and right - considering what this Government has brought forward for workers' rights and in light of what we will achieve.

We are the ones fighting for a cost-of-living wage. In addition, we have the most people in employment - 2.5 million. I am proud of the Government's achievements. There is much more to be done by this Government in its remaining two and a half years in office.

I pay tribute to Sir Mo Farah in the UK, an Olympic star on the track. I pay tribute to his bravery and resilience. This morning, he came out with his story of how he was trafficked as a child from Somalia to the UK. As a vulnerable child he was brought to another country and forced to work for a family. He was not able to go to school. He eventually went to school at about 12 years of age. It was only by the grace of God that he was able to shine through sports. It was because his PE teacher came forward to suppor…

Gaillimh abú.

The last time the Minister was here, he spoke about students' unions and it was highlighted that there was a definition in a prior Act which indicated the meaning of a student union. It is very clear that students want to make sure their organisations are representative, that people are elected onto them and that it is those bodies that represent the students at governing authorities across all our universities. The Minister has looked very carefully at this with his team and his officials. He is examining it and i…

I was a contract researcher working on the Horizon 2020 programme. An incredible thing about Ireland and our third level system is the amount of funding we have been able to draw down due to the excellence of our principal investigators, PIs, and researchers. They draw awards from the Exchequer, through Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish Research Council, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Teagasc and all our national funding agencies. They also draw down funding at an international level because our r…

I acknowledge the credentials of people in this Chamber, especially the spokespeople, and the people bringing forward all of the amendments. I am aware that Senators on both sides of the House were looking to bring forward amendments and the Department and its officials were engaging over the many Stages on this over the past number of years. On the amendments to hand, I will highlight a number of points. I am aware that Senator Higgins was speaking about the use of the word "excellence" and in the more recent amen…

I will speak on the amendments that have been tabled, and follow on from what Senator Malcolm Byrne said about the advocacy role of an t-údarás. It is an agency of the Government. There is also a role for the board of an t-údarás, which is outlined in sections 15 and 16, and concerns the membership of an t-údarás. It has 11 ordinary members plus a chair, with a 40% gender balance. The section allows the board of the HEA to put policies, guidance and regulations together for HEIs and many other areas outside of this…

We have spoken about a number of matters today and yesterday. It is very important that we argue on policy points, rather than make personal attacks on whoever is in the Chamber, be it the Ministers who come to the House or our colleagues. It is also important that we base our arguments on facts. That is crucial. We have a crucial role to always look to an evidence base when we are putting our policies forward. If we do not base our opinions and policies on a strong evidence base, where are we going? The evidence b…

I, too, welcome our guests in the Public Gallery. It is great that young women are coming in to visit the House. I hope they will be representatives in future. I wish to acknowledge the work of Maria Walsh, MEP, on mental health. I am a member of the Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health. We know the impact the past couple of years have had, particularly on young people in towns across Ireland. We hear it from parents, teachers and everyone else. Ms Walsh is doing a significant amount of work at European level to ma…

That is not what was said. On a point of order-----

On a point of order, I, too, was here on the Order of Business-----

I was present for the Order of Business this morning and I listened to the Deputy Leader, who spoke about the legislation before the House today. She indicated that she had looked to see whether there would be an opportunity. She did not indicate that she had spoken directly to the Minister. She indicated that she had asked for time on this legislation. I believe the Minister is right to come back on this. If we go back to look over the comments, it will be clear. She did indicate that there is a significant amount…

An apology is required.

I will address some of the comments on this amendment. The purpose of the Bill is to fund a greater number of students to access third level through traditional universities but also our brand new technological universities. As a democratic state, we need to ensure funding is equally disbursed and managed throughout all of our institutions. The chief executive of the HEA will be responsible to the board of the HEA and is the person responsible for the funding. He or she is making the funding allocations, on behalf …

I appreciate Senator Mullen’s concerns about academic freedom. It is crucial and a cornerstone of our democracy. The Senator is an advocate for the freedoms we need to protect and guarantee in many countries around the world. Ireland is, I hope, a great advocate for that through its participation in international organisations. We acknowledge that academic freedom, which is addressed in section 120, is a crucial part of the Bill. It is important that the academic freedom of all our institutions has been enshrined h…