USI should switch its focus from a broad equality agenda to campaigning on issues that specifically relate to education, an independent review group has concluded. The report pulls no punches on the current state of the national students' union; its findings "clearly show an organisation which is in crisis".

Internal conflict has developed to such an extent over the last four years that it has "eclipsed the effective operation of the union and paralysed its service functions", the report says. It adds that the "structures, administration, policies and practises of the union are not working well".

However, the authors of the report, Montague Consultants and Maggie Bowen Associates, "firmly believe this situation can be turned around". They say such a turnaround will require "absolute clarity about the fact that a line has been drawn under the difficulties of the last few years and that the organisation is turning over a new leaf".

The report recommends that USI divert resources from campaigns on issues such as gay rights and women's rights to campaigns on education, grants and accommodation. It says the union "appears to have lost its primary focus in terms of advocacy in education and training . . . Decision makers believe that the organisation has become so side-tracked and diverted from its core business as to render the organisation redundant." The report adds, however, that it would be "wrong to simply ignore" wider issues and that core campaigns should be undertaken "with due regard to the fundamental principles of equality.

"USI exists to work for Irish students' unions and their members. They must get first priority. However, this cannot mean jettisoning all other concerns in some fundamentalist fashion."

The report recommends that the post of equality officer, introduced by USI's congress earlier this month, be a temporary measure pending "the integration of equality issues into the mainstream structures and policies of USI".

The report notes that people it interviewed about their perceptions of USI said that "in general" they found the union "to be unprofessional in its dealings". All of the interviewees said "they would not be inclined to go to USI as their first port of call if they required information about or help on issues pertaining to students".

The union will have to focus on "doing for students' unions what they cannot do for themselves", the review recommends. USI's membership might also have to extend "beyond the traditional boundaries" of third-level colleges to "embrace the concept of lifelong learning".

The report calls on the union to examine the feasibility of extending its core services to part-time, nursing and other student groups.

The consultants note that a large proportion of each year in USI "is undertaken in election mode" and that "decisions are taken in the context of winning or losing the debate rather than the realistic requirements of the student community".

USI's decision-making structure is criticised in the report as being "not effective or affordable" and should be replaced by a "flatter, more accountable body", the authors say. USI must also "implement proper financial control structures" and establish financial planning and accountability procedures. The report also recommends a radical reform of the organisation's constitution, which it says has been used as "a political battering ram" over the years. "A new more simple and straightforward document which has the allegiance of all is a priority," it says.

On the issue of whether USI should engage in street protests more often, the report cautions that "direct demonstrations of student feeling . . . need to be used sparingly and with great consideration. Getting large numbers involved is vital. If not, an attempt at a show of strength can be a display of weakness."

The report was discussed by USI's national council at a meeting in UCD last weekend and will be pored over by a number of working groups over the next two weeks. A national council on June 12th will agree a final position on the report's recommendations, and that meeting is likely to call a special congress to amend the union's constitution as necessary.