I welcome this opportunity to be back in the Seanad where there was considerable interest in this Bill. Indeed, the amendments to which I will refer are largely a response to the debate in the Seanad rather than the debate in the Dáil. I am keen to make that clear. We had a very productive discussion in this House and I welcome the strong engagement of Senators.
In accordance with what the Cathaoirleach just said, I will not talk about the general purpose of the Bill but instead, I will go straight to the amendments. A total of nine amendments were approved during Committee and Report Stages in Dáil Éireann. They all relate to the issue of granting university authorisation, which is provided for in sections 2, 3, 4 and 5. Although these were all Government amendments, I note that several of the amendments were introduced to address concerns raised in this House. The amendments are grouped under two headings. I will begin by setting out the position on the amendments in group 1.
Senators will be aware that the purpose of sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 is to provide for the authorisation by the Minister of the use of the description "university" by a high-quality education provider for specified purposes outside the State. The use of the description is restricted in its geographical application and in the purposes for which it can be used. Use of the description is restricted to outside of the State and for the following purposes: to market programmes of education and training provided by the authorised provider or research services of the authorised provider; and to enter into an arrangement with any person outside the State for the purposes of participating in a collaborative project relating to the provision of programmes of education and training or research services.
Section 3 provides for review of the authorisation to use the description by the Higher Education Authority.
Section 4 provides for the withdrawal of the authorisation by the Minister on the grounds that it is not being used for the specified purpose or that the provider no longer fulfils the qualifying criteria for application. Section 5 provides for an appeals board to hear appeals relating either to a Minister's decision to refuse to grant an authorisation or a decision to withdraw an authorisation.
Following discussions in this House, and in particular the significant input provided by Senator Barrett in suggesting amendments to the draft Bill, amendments Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 were introduced to allow the Minister, when granting a university authorisation, to impose such additional conditions on the provider concerned as the Minister thinks appropriate. The provider would be required to comply with those conditions, although amendment No. 3 provides that the provider can appeal against the imposition of those conditions to the appeals board provided for under section 5. Amendment No. 4 then provides that a review carried out by an t-údarás under section 3 of the Bill would include a review of the provider's compliance with any conditions imposed by the Minister and provides that the Minister can direct a provider to comply with conditions imposed by him or her. These amendments will, therefore, allow the Minister to put in place additional safeguards to ensure that any provider which receives university authorisation is operating to the highest standards.
