The impressive report from the OECD on third-level education in this State is a landmark document which provides a template for the development of the sector for a generation to come. It is, remarkably, the first independent and thoroughgoing review of the sector in a quarter-century.
The review provides a cool appraisal of the third-level system. At its heart, it takes the Government's lofty ambitions for the sector at face value and sets this against the reality on the ground where gross under-funding and uncertainty about future resources are commonplace. The review signals how the Government's ambitions for the sector as the driving force behind a "Knowledge Society" are unrealistic, given the continued crisis of funding There is the overall sense from the review of the Irish third-level sector somehow managing to punch above its weight, despite an inconsistent level of State support. This was best exemplified in the past two years when the Government, under pressure from university presidents, rescinded a freeze on research funding - and then proceeded to cut day-to-day spending by ten per cent.
The OECD review underlines the sense of drift in the management of the sector which leads to this kind of inconsistency. The review team says it was struck by the absence of a national strategy between the plethora of government departments and State agencies which manage third-level education. It proposes bringing the universities and the institutes of technology together under a new common authority, the Tertiary Education Authority. It wants the successful Science Foundation Ireland to be confirmed as the national agency for the funding of basic research and R&D in higher education. It wants a new Research Policy Committee reporting to the Cabinet and the Taoiseach to chair a new National Council on third-level education, research and innovation. Few who have taken even a cursory glance at the sector in recent years would argue against these or much else among the 52 recommendations. They are a sensible and logical response to the current difficulties.
The report was commissioned by the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, at a time when his proposal to abolish the "free-fees" scheme was running into the sand. The OECD says the abolition of fees failed to widen access and calls for their return. The Government insists however that the fees issue is off the agenda for the foreseeable future. The opposition parties are also implacably opposed to fees.
This response leaves the key issue unresolved. How is the third-level sector to be funded so that it can deliver on its potential? Since higher taxation is also off the political agenda, it may be that there is no alternative but to introduce some form of new student charges as suggested by the OECD. This and other important issues, like the future of Aer Lingus, are left hanging as Ministers strut their stuff in advance of the Cabinet reshuffle. Is this important report to be left to gather dust?