Regional Technical Colleges Act , 1992

1. Commencement.

1.—This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister shall by order appoint.

2. Interpretation.

2.—(1)In this Act—

“academic council” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10 of this Act;

F1["An tÚdarás" means An tÚdarás umArd-Oideachas;]

F2["college" means an institution of higher education declared byparagraph (a)ofsection 3(1)(as amended by the Institutes of Technology Act 2006) to be a college to which this Act applies and, in relation to the Cork Institute of Technology, includes a school of that college declared to be such under of that subsection;]

“course of study” means a course of study, instruction or training leading to an educational award by the National Council for Educational Awards, an university in the State or such other certifying authority as may be approved by the Minister from time to time;

“the Director” in relation to a college, means the person appointed under section 9 of this Act to be the Director of the college;

F3["education and training board" in relation to a college, means the education and training board in whose education and training board area the college is situated;]

F4["education and training board" means an education and training board established under theEducation and Training Boards Act 2013;]

“establishment” and “establishment date” refer, in the case of a regional technical college established by section 3 (1) of this Act, to the commencement of this Act and, in the case of a college established by order under section 3 (2) of this Act or an educational institution or part of such an institution which by order under section 3 (3) of this Act forms part of a college, to the commencement of the order;

“functions” includes powers and duties;

“governing body”, in relation to a college, means the governing body of the college established by section 6 of this Act;

“graduate” means a person on whom there has been conferred or who has been granted or given an educational award on successful completion of a course of study at a college;

“local authority” means the council of a county, the council of a county or other borough or the council of an urban district;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Education;

F5[…]

F6[“regulations of the college”, in relation to a college, means rules made by the governing body of the college underparagraph 12of theSecond Schedule;

“student”, in relation to a college, means a person registered as a student by the college or a full-time officer of the student union who was first elected or appointed to his or her office while he or she was registered as a student by the college;

“student union”, in relation to a college, means the student union or other student representative body recognised by the college;]

(2)A reference in this Act to the performance of functions includes a reference to the exercise of powers and the performance of duties.

(3)A reference in this Act to a subsection is to a subsection of the section in which the reference is made unless the contrary is indicated.

3. Establishment of colleges.

3.—F8[(1)(a) Each institution of higher education specified incolumn (1)of theFirst Scheduleis declared to be a college to which this Act applies and shall, subject tosubsection (4), continue to bear, and to be known by, the name in the Irish language or in the English language by which it is referred to in that Schedule.

(b) Coláiste Ealaíne agus Deartha Crawford (Crawford College of Art and Design), Ceol-Scoil Chorcaí(Cork School of Music) and Coláiste Náisiúnta Mara na hÉireann (National Maritime College of Ireland) are declared to be schools of the Cork Institute of Technology and each of them shall continue to bear, and to be known by, the name in the Irish language or in the English language by which it is referred to in this paragraph.

(c) (i) Coláiste Turasóireachta Na Cealla Beaga (Tourism College Killybegs) is declared to be a school of the Letterkenny Institute of Technology and it shall continue to bear, and to be known by, the name in the Irish language or the English language by which it is referred to in this paragraph, or by such other name as the governing body, subject to the consent of the Minister, may determine.

(ii) Every person who, immediately before the commencement of this paragraph, is—

(I) an employee of County Donegal Vocational Education Committee, and

(II) working for the college referred to in subparagraph(i),

shall, on such commencement, become and be a member of the staff of Letterkenny Institute of Technology and shall not, while in the service of that college, receive less remuneration or be subject to less beneficial conditions of service than the remuneration approved by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance to which that person was entitled and the conditions of service approved by the Minister to which the person was subject before such commencement.]

(2) F9[…]

(3) F10[…]

(4)The Minister may, following consultation with the governing body of a college, by order change the name of the college in the First Schedule and amend the said Schedule accordingly.

(5)A college shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and power to sue F11[and may be sued in its corporate name and may, with the consent of the Minister, acquire, hold and dispose of land, an interest in land or any other property].

3A. F12[Appointment of committee to advise An tÚdarás.

3A.F13[…]]

4. Membership of colleges.

4.—(1)The members of a college shall be—

(a)the members of the governing body,

(b)the members of the academic council,

(c)the members of the staff,

(d)the registered students of the college,

(e)the graduates of the college,

(f)such other persons as the governing body may appoint to be members.

(2)Membership of a college under subsection (1) (f) shall continue until the governing body otherwise declares.

5. Functions of colleges.

5.—(1)The principal function of a college shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be to provide vocational and technical education and training for the economic, technological, scientific, commercial, industrial, social and cultural development of the State with particular reference to the region served by the college, and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, a college shall have the following functions—

(a)to provide such courses of study as the governing body of the college considers appropriate;

F14[(b) to make awards, with the exception of doctoral degrees, to students where the college has satisfied itself that the students have acquired and demonstrated the appropriate standard of knowledge, skill or competence for awards that are included within the National Framework of Qualifications;]

F15[(bb)F16[…]]

(c)subject to such conditions as F17[An tÚdarás] may determine, to engage in research, consultancy and development work and to provide such services in relation to these matters as the governing body of the college considers appropriate;

(d)to enter into arrangements with other institutions in or outside the State for the purpose of offering joint courses of study and of engaging jointly in programmes of research, consultancy and development work in relation to such matters as the governing body of the college considers appropriate;

F18[(e)in relation to any of the following companies or undertakings and in accordance with the following law, namely—

(i) a limited liability company in the State—in accordance with the Companies Acts, or

(ii) a company or undertaking (the liability of members of which is limited) in a state other than the State—in accordance with the law of that state, to—

(I) promote and take part in the formation of it,

(II) acquire, hold or dispose of shares or other interests in its capital, or

(III) participate in the management or direction of it,

but only if the objects of the company or undertaking include the carrying on of such business, trading or other activities, as the college thinks fit, for the purpose of promoting or assisting in the performance of, or in connection with, the functions of the college;]

(f)to institute and, if thought fit, to award scholarships, prizes and other awards;

(g)to maintain, manage, administer and invest all the money and assets of the college;

(h)to accept gifts of money, land or other property upon such trusts and conditions, if any, as may be specified by the donors: provided that nothing in any such trust or condition is contrary to the provisions of this Act;

F20[(i)subject to the consent of the Minister to acquire, hold and dispose of land, an interest in land or any other property;]

(j)to do all such acts and things as may be necessary to further the objects and development of the college.

F14[(1A) Awards referred to insubsection (1)(b)may only be conferred, granted or given on the recommendation of the academic council of the college to or on persons who satisfy the academic council that they have attended or otherwise pursued or followed appropriate courses of study, instruction, research or training provided by the college, or that they have previously acquired learning in accordance with procedures established by the college undersection 56of theQualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012, and have attained an appropriate standard in examinations or other tests of knowledge or ability or have performed other exercises in a manner regarded by the academic council of the college as being satisfactory.]

(2) F21[…]

5A. F22[ Academic freedom.

5A.—(1) A college, in performing its functions, shall have the right and responsibility to preserve and promote the traditional principles of academic freedom in the conduct of its internal and external affairs.

(2) A member of the academic staff of a college shall have the freedom, within the law, in his or her teaching, research and any other activities either in or outside the college, to question and test received wisdom, to put forward new ideas and to state controversial or unpopular opinions and shall not be disadvantaged, or subject to less favourable treatment by the college, for the exercise of that freedom.]

6. Governing bodies.

F23[6.—(1) A college shall have a governing body established under this Act to perform the functions conferred on the college by this Act.

(2) TheSecond Scheduleshall apply to a governing body.

(3) Subject to this Act, a governing body shall consist of 19 members as determined in accordance with this section.

(4) The members of a governing body shall be—

(a) a chairperson (in this section and in theSecond Schedulereferred to as the "chairperson"), who shall be an external member, appointed by the governing body,

(b) 9 external members (other than the chairperson), appointed by the governing body,

(c) the Director,

(d) 5 internal members (other than the Director), being—

(i) 3 members of the academic staff of the college, elected by the academic staff of the college,

(ii) one member of the non-academic staff of the college, elected by the non-academic staff of the college, and

(iii) one other internal member of the college,

and

(e) 3 student union representatives appointed by the governing body.

(5) The internal members of a governing body shall be elected or selected for appointment as such internal members in accordance with regulations made undersubsection (9).

(6) Subject tosubsection (7), with regard to the appointment of external members of a governing body—

(a) 3 such members shall be nominated by the Minister, and

(b) 7 such members shall be appointed by the governing body in accordance with a process for such appointments that is determined by the governing body and approved by the Minister.

(7) Before a person is nominated for appointment or appointed, as may be appropriate, as an external member of a governing body of a college, the Minister or the governing body of the college, as the case may be, shall be satisfied that the person is suitable for appointment as such an external member by reason of his or her possessing knowledge of, and experience in, matters connected with the functions of the college to enable him or her to make a substantial contribution to the effective and efficient performance of those functions.

(8) (a) The term of office of a member of the governing body, other than the Director, shall not exceed 4 years and such a member may not serve more than two consecutive terms of office.

(b) A member of the governing body who is a student at the college shall hold office for such period, not exceeding one year, as the governing body may determine but may be re-appointed for a further period not exceeding one year.

(9) A governing body shall, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations of the college relating to the selection, election, nomination or appointment of members of the governing body as it thinks fit, and their selection, election, nomination or appointment shall be carried out in accordance with those regulations.

(10) In performing functions under this section, the Minister and a governing body shall have regard to the objectives that—

(a) not less than 40 per cent of the members of the governing body shall be women and not less than 40 per cent of them shall be men,

(b) the membership of the governing body shall take account of the region served by the college, and

(c) the membership of the governing body shall broadly reflect the composition of Irish society, including persons who are competent in the Irish language.

(11) In this section—

“external member”, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body other than an internal member or a student member thereof or a member of the academic council of the college;

“internal member”, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body who is a member of the staff of the college or a person who is remunerated under a contract with the college;

“student member”, in relation to a governing body, means a member of the governing body who is a student at the college.]

6A. F24[Transitional arrangements for membership and chairperson of governing bodies.

6A.(1) A governing body of a college shall, as soon as practicable after the relevant date and with the approval of the Minister, determine the arrangements and procedures to be put in place by it to ensure that the composition of the governing body of the college complies withsection 6(inserted by section 109 of the Act of 2022) within the period referred to insubsection (2).

(2) Subject tosubsections (3)to(5), a governing body of a college shall, within 12 months of the relevant date—

(a) determine the composition of the governing body of its college in accordance with the arrangements and procedures put in place by it undersubsection (1),

(b) appoint the members (other than the Director) of the governing body accordingly, and

(c) by notice in writing, inform the Minister of the composition as so determined.

(3) (a) A person who was the chairman of a governing body of a college on the relevant date may continue after that date to be the chairperson of the governing body of that college until his or her membership of the governing body ceases, provided that he or she is an external member within the meaning ofsection 6(inserted by section 109 of the Act of 2022).

(b) For the purposes ofparagraph (a), a term served by a person referred to in that paragraph as a member of the governing body, but not as chairman thereof, before the commencement referred to in that paragraph shall be disregarded for the purposes ofsubsection (8)(a)ofsection 6(inserted by section 109 of the Act of 2022).

(4) A person (other than the Director) who was appointed as a member (including the chairman) of the governing body before the relevant date and who is re-appointed as such member pursuant tosubsection (2)(b)—

(a) shall be so re-appointed for a term of office of no longer than the unexpired term for which he or she was so appointed, and

(b) the term of office served by the member (including the chairman) immediately before the relevant date and the term of office for which he or she is re-appointed underparagraph (a)shall be regarded as one term of office for the purposes ofsubsection (8)(a)ofsection 6(inserted by section 109 of the Act of 2022).

(5) Notwithstandingsection 6(8)and paragraph 4 of theSecond Schedule, where the term of office of all or the majority of the members of a governing body (including the chairman thereof) of a college expires by the effluxion of time during the period referred to insubsection (2), the Minister may, at the request of the governing body of the college and if the members concerned so agree, extend the term of office of those members for such period (that is not longer than the period referred to insubsection (2)) as the Minister may determine to facilitate that governing body to comply with that subsection.

(6) In this section—

“Act of 2022”means the Higher Education Authority Act 2022;

“relevant date”means the date on which section 109 of the Act of 2022 comes into operation.]

7. F25[Functions of governing bodies.

7.—(1)The functions of the governing body of a college shall be, in pursuance of the functions of the college undersection 5but within the constraints of the college’s budget undersection 13—

(a) to control and administer the land and other property of the college,

(b) to appoint the Director and such other staff as it thinks necessary for the purposes of the college, and

(c) to perform such other functions as are conferred on it by this or any other Act.

F26[(1A) The governing body of a college shall—

(a) promote the success (including academic success) and reputation of the college,

(b) satisfy itself that appropriate systems, procedures and practices are in place—

(i) for the internal performance management and accountability of the college in respect of—

(I) the performance of its functions, and

(II) the achievement of the aims in the strategic development plan undersection 21C,

and

(ii) in order to implement, and report on compliance with, the policies (whether set out in codes, guidelines or other documents, or any combination thereof) of the Government or a Minister of the Government to the extent that those policies may affect or relate to the functions of the college,

and

(c) establish and implement arrangements for the management of the performance of the Director.