Breathnach says she will amend Universities Bill

THE Universities Bill is to be amended to meet criticisms from the third-level colleges after it is introduced in the Dail today, the Minister for Education has disclosed.

Ms Breathnach said the legislation would be redrafted to include guarantees for university staff that their terms of employment would not be affected by the legal changes proposed for their institutions.

It is understood that further amendments will be introduced to include aspects of the legislation relating to the borrowing powers of the colleges and supervisory control by the Higher Education Authority.

Fianna Fail yesterday said it would vigorously oppose the Bill, which it described as "one of the most intrusive and authoritarian pieces of legislation ever to come before the Dail".

The Minister said the legislation was based "word for word" on proposals made in the Green Paper published by the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat government in 1992. She promised to be "generous" with amendments when the Bill is debated in the Dail and Seanad.

Ms Breathnach stressed that the guidelines proposed on staffing and budgets were not mandatory. The colleges would be allowed to spend money as they saw fit. "What we are saying to the universities is that, far from being draconian or schoolmarmish, we are allowing you to take responsibility for your own budget and decide how the money should be spent."

She stressed there would be no Government or ministerial influence in any of the appointees to governing bodies, except the specific nominees of the Minister. In no college would these exceed four in number.

Asked about opposition to the Bill from within Trinity College, Ms Breathnach said she had the support of various groups within the college. "There are academics who wish to look back and there are those who look to the future."

Fianna Fail's education spokesman, Mr Micheal Martin, said the legislation undermined the traditional independence of the universities and promoted a culture of dependence. Instead of recognising their contribution, the Government wanted to place them into a straitjacket.

"It rides rough-shod over the conditions and terms of employment of university workers, retrospectively cancels the status of existing contracts, proposes very arbitrary and summary powers for suspension and dismissal, repeals protective legislation already on the statute book and questions the operation of pension entitlements," he claimed.

The legislation provides for greater autonomy for the colleges of the National University of Ireland, and raises St Patrick's College, Maynooth, to university level. These proposals are widely welcomed, but additional provisions aimed at ensuring greater accountability for public funds have led to allegations that the legislation is undemocratic and intrusive.