THE Universities Bill was sharply attacked by Mr Seamus Brennan (FF, Dublin South) a former Minister for Education. Its central theme was an implied criticism of standards of accountability in universities. "This, quite simply," he said, "is misplaced."

It was right that all institutions, especially those which were publicly funded, should continually explain the relevance and effectiveness of their governance. "But it is surely the case that the universities are well capable of identifying and carrying through such changes. They have, after all, been doing so for some considerable time - in some instances well before this House was established. We should trust them to do so."

Mr Brennan said that universities must be trusted to oversee their system and standards of governance. If legislation was necessary, he and his party would b9 the first to work with the universities to introduce it.

"The legislation laid before the House by the Minister has distracted attention from the achievements of our universities and RTCs in delivering world class standards in teaching and research to successive generations of students.

"Despite serious underfunding this contribution is now the bedrock of national economic life and the central element of competitive advantage in an increasingly knowledge driven global economy."

Mr Tom Kitt (FF, Dublin South) said the Bill was seriously defective in that it removed the autonomy of a university, curtailed the academic freedom of staff, and failed to guarantee the ethos of a university.

"The three basic freedoms of any democracy are the press, judiciary and academic freedom. In removing the latter, this legislation strikes at the very heart of our democracy."