MAJOR changes to the administration of the State's seven universities are proposed by the Universities Bill 1996, which was published yesterday.
The Bill, the first major piece of legislation affecting the universities to be proposed since the Irish Universities Act of 1908, gives Maynooth College full constituent university status and provides for outside representation on the board of Trinity College Dublin for the first time in its history.
The Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, described the Bill as a "historic" piece of legislation. She said those involved in formulating the legislation had been conscious of the academic autonomy of the universities.
The publication of the Bill follows a long and sometimes stormy process of dialogue and consultation, during which elements in TCD in particular were highly critical of the Minister's efforts to introduce outside representation to the college board.
The Bill establishes the four separate colleges of the National University of Ireland (UCD UCC, UCG and Maynooth) as constituent universities of the NUI with devolved powers and functions, a move which had been sought by the NUI senate and the colleges themselves.
The colleges will now be known as the National University of Ireland, Dublin, Cork, Galway and Maynooth, which is given full constituent university status for the first time under the Bill. Maynooth is currently a recognised college of the NUI.
The NUI will remain in existence as an umbrella body and will continue to appoint external examiners and award degrees.
New governing authority structures are also proposed for the universities, providing broader representation from communities of interest both inside and outside the institutions.
The Minister for Education may appoint up to four representatives, following consultation with the president of the university. Senior and junior academic staff, non academic staff and students will all have a statutory entitlement to representation on governing authorities, although traditional representation on the existing governing bodies will be preserved.
The Bill makes special provision for the trustees of Maynooth the Catholic Church, to have three nominees on the governing authority of the college. Similarly there is a provision for up to six fellows - senior academics - to sit on the board of TCD.
For the first time in its 404 year history, TCD will have to accept outside representation on its governing authority, the board. Originally, 10 outside representatives had been proposed for the TCD board but this has been reduced to between one and four people.
In a rare move, the Government has also agreed to support a private Bill sponsored by TCD, which would allow the college to amend its charter through a private Act in line with the public legislation. Ms Breathnach said she was "very much conscious of maintaining and recognising the great contribution they [TCD] have made, not only to education in Ireland but to education in general".
The Minister can also recommend to the Government that a governing authority should be suspended and that the membership of those sitting on the authority should be terminated if the functions of the college or the governing authority are not being properly performed. This would follow an inspection of the running of the college by a visitor, who may be a Government appointee, at the request of the Minister.
The Bill also requires the universities to submit yearly accounts to the Comptroller and Auditor General, which will also be presented to the Minister and the Oireachtas, and to formulate strategic development plans for periods of at least three years.
The Bill will be presented to the Oireachtas in October.