Vol. 448 No. 5
80 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Education her views on whether the consequence of the Supreme Court decision on the financial controller in the case of the Letterkenny Regional Technical College creates a situation that regional technical college governing bodies are no longer answerable to the Minister or Dáil Éireann. [2404/95]
The judgment of the Supreme Court in the case relating to the appointment of a secretary-financial controller to Letterkenny Regional Technical College is being considered by my Department in association with the Attorney General's Office and counsel in the case. When that consideration is completed I shall be in a position to decide on appropriate action to address any deficiencies in procedures or legislation.
In the meantime I am satisfied that the judgment does not have the effect implied by this question. The judgment is very limited in its effect, referring to only one area of the work of governing bodies — the appointment of staff. Even in that area the Supreme Court upheld the power of the Minister for Education together with the Minister for Finance to approve posts in the colleges. The judgment held in favour of the college only in respect of the setting of qualifications and selection of appointees for posts which had already been approved.
Apart from the requirement that all posts in regional technical colleges must be approved by the Ministers for Education and Finance, the Regional Technical Colleges Acts, 1992 to 1994 contain a number of other provisions which provide for accountability to the Minister for Education and Dáil Éireann. Among these are the requirement that programmes and budgets of colleges must be approved by the Minister; the obligation on governing bodies to carry out their functions subject to policies determined by the Minister; the power of the Minister to appoint an inspector to report to her on any aspect of a college's operation; the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General in auditing the accounts of colleges and the power of the Minister to dissolve governing bodies. None of these provisions has been affected by the Supreme Court judgment.
