Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:220 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education if she intends to introduce a higher education or universities Bill in order to give autonomy to the existing National University of Ireland colleges.
Written Answers. - Higher Education Legislation and Funding.
I have no proposals at present to introduce legislation amending the Irish Universities Act, 1908, under which the NUI colleges operate.
I have already indicated that any proposals made to me to alter the existing arrangements would, of course, be fully considered by me and my Department in consultation with the Higher Education Authority.
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:221 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education if she intends to change the method of funding Higher Education Authority funded third level institutions; if these changes are based on the recommendations of the Higher Education Authority commissioned report(s) of January 1990; and if she intends to base the funding on a cost per student basis.
Discussions are currently in progress involving my Department, the Higher Education Authority and the relevant third level institutions on a new funding method for these institutions.
An important input for the new funding method will be a reliable unit cost data for each of the institutions.
For this purpose, the institutions are currently preparing data on unit costs in accordance with guidelines issued by the Higher Education Authority and building as appropriate on the initial work contained in the report to which the Deputy refers.
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:222 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education if she intends to amend higher education legislation on the method of appointing university governing bodies in order to provide for a greater degree of representation, for students, junior teaching staff and nonacademic staff.
I have no proposals to introduce such amending legislation at the present time.
Tomás MacGiolla
Ceist:223 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Education (1) if she intends to have the proposed Colleges Bill enacted before the next academic year and (2) if she proposes to give statutory power to the Dublin Institute of Technology to give primary and post-graduate degree awards.
The Heads of the Bills relating to the regional technical colleges and the Dublin Institute of Technology have been sent to the Attorney General's Office for drafting. Subject to the completion of the necessary procedures and the availability of Dáil time I would hope to introduce the draft legislation in the next Dáil session.
Deputies will have an opportunity to examine the various provisions at that point.