Yes, we will come to the Comptroller and Auditor General because I want to speak directly to the point raised by Senator Higgins that this gives more power to the HEA. It does. Part of the reason this legislation had to come about was because of incidents at the University of Limerick, UL, where serious questions were being asked about where money was being spent. UL was using the autonomy line and that essentially there was nothing to see here even though-----

This issue came extensively before the Committee of Public Accounts, and so on, at the time. I fully respect the academic autonomy of institutions, but we also expect that in respect of the very considerable sums of moneys that are made available to them by the State, that those institutions are accountable for these sums. I am particularly glad, incidentally, that the Minister is also addressing now the core funding issue. When the issues in respect of UL arose - there were other institutions involved also, and th…

If we are to speak specifically with regard to the authority and this amendment, it should be about its members having sufficient experience to inform the decision-making processes and meet the strategic objectives of the authority, rather than them all being representative.

We are only on amendment No. 2.

I do not think it is without protest, in fairness.

It depends on votes.

Again, I speak in support. As the Minister knows, Senator Craughwell was at the TUI conference. On what the Minister has done with governing bodies, it is about ensuring that the academic and non-academic staff are represented on governing authorities. I find what Senator Higgins said about public policy and giving the Minister more powers kind of unusual. Yet, most of the amendments she tabled are on specific areas of public policy. It is around expecting an t-údarás and the universities to adhere to requirements …

All I am saying is that the next number of amendments are all going to be dealing with specific areas and, as the Senator knows, I agree with many of them.

I am. Here is the point around this. That is all fine; it is around the principle that if we put them into legislation and they form part of public policy, then there is an expectation that the Minister and an t-údarás will ensure that action is taken on them. If there is not action taken on them by the universities and an t-údarás, what should the Minister do? Should the Minister just say this institution is doing nothing to further SDG goals or gender equality and that he must respect the autonomy of the institut…

I propose that we suspend for ten minutes to allow the Minister to attend.

I propose a ten-minute suspension.

The next item is due to start at 7.15 p.m. Is it agreed that we keep going until the Institutional Burials Bill is to be taken?

I will need the Leader-----

I will check.

I will undertake to speak to the Leader in the meantime.

I certainly think it should be clear, as does the Minister, that the student voice should be recognised in all cases. That voice should be heard through the democratically elected students' union within the institution and the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, at a national level. As the Minister outlined earlier, it is obviously key within this legislation that there is very specific provision for a USI representative on the board of an t-údarás and enhanced and clear student representation with regard to governi…

I could not get agreement from the Leader on it.

Senator Ahearn will need a bus to bring all the people to visit the school.

The Minister of State may not be aware of the full history of this particular issue, but it is a problem for international students coming to Ireland and a requirement by the Department of Justice that they must have health insurance. This has been a long-running sore and to say it has been a difficulty is an understatement. I raised the matter not long after my election to this House and subsequently raised it with the Ministers, Deputies Harris and Stephen Donnelly, including in this House on 24 September 2020 wh…

I thank the Minister of State. I am afraid my response is to tell us something that we do not know. The difficulty, as he rightly outlined, is that this has been an issue since the 2018 Court of Appeal judgment. Discussions have been ongoing since that time between the Departments so I do not accept there is any urgency among them about trying to resolve this. The issue had always been around those students who were studying in the State for more than one year. It would surely be reasonably easy for the Department …