PART II

National Qualifications Authority Of Ireland

5. —(1) There shall stand established a body to be known as Údarás Náisiúnta Cáilíochtaí na hÉireann or in the English language as the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (in this Act referred to as the “Authority”) to perform the functions conferred on it by or under this Act.

(2) The Authority shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and, with the consent of the Minister, to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land and to acquire, hold and dispose of any other property.

6. —(1) The Authority shall consist of 14 members.

(2) The members of the Authority shall be—

(a) the chairperson of the Authority,

(b) the chief executive of the Authority,

(c) two persons nominated by the Minister, one of whom shall be a person who, in the opinion of the Minister, is representative of community and voluntary organisations,

(d) one person nominated by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment,

(e) the chairperson of the Higher Education and Training Awards Council,

(f) the chairperson of the Further Education and Training Awards Council,

(g) one person nominated by universities,

(h) one person who, in the opinion of the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, is representative of learners,

(i) one person nominated by Forfás,

(j) one person nominated by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation,

(k) one person nominated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and

(l) two persons nominated in accordance with subsection (3).

(3) Subject to subsection (1), the Authority shall nominate as members two persons who have a special knowledge and experience related to the functions of the Authority, at least one of whom shall be a person with international experience related to those functions.

(4) The First Schedule shall apply to the Authority.

(5) The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of nominations to be made under subsection (2) or (3).

(6) Where a nomination is made under subsection (2) or (3), regard shall be had to the desirability of an appropriate gender balance and where a person or body has more than one nomination under this section, the person or body shall nominate at least one male and at least one female.

7. —The objects of the Authority shall be as follows:

(a) to establish and maintain a framework, being a framework for the development, recognition and award of qualifications in the State (in this Act referred to as a “framework of qualifications”), based on standards of knowledge, skill or competence to be acquired by learners;

(b) to establish and promote the maintenance and improvement of the standards of further education and training awards and higher education and training awards of the Further Education and Training Awards Council, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, the Dublin Institute of Technology and universities established under section 9 of the Act of 1997; and

(c) to promote and facilitate access, transfer and progression.

8. —(1) The functions of the Authority are to do all things necessary or expedient in accordance with this Act to further the objects of the Authority.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Authority shall—

(a) establish the policies and criteria on which the framework of qualifications shall be based,

(b) review the operation of the framework of qualifications having regard to the objects specified in section 7 ,

(c) establish, in consultation with the Further Education and Training Awards Council and the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, procedures for the performance by them of their functions and shall review those procedures from time to time,

(d) determine the procedures to be implemented by providers of programmes of education and training for access, transfer and progression and shall publish those procedures in such form and manner as the Authority thinks fit,

(e) ensure, in consultation with the Dublin Institute of Technology and universities established under section 9 of the Act of 1997, that the procedures referred to in paragraph (d) are being implemented by them,

(f) facilitate and advise universities in implementing the procedures referred to in paragraph (d) and from time to time and in any case not less than once in every five years, in consultation with An tÚdarás, review the implementation of those procedures by universities, and publish the outcomes of such a review in such form and manner as it thinks fit,

(g) consult with and advise the Minister or any other Minister, as the case may be, on such matters in respect of its functions as the Minister or any other Minister may request or as the Authority sees fit, and

(h) (i) liaise with bodies outside the State which make education and training awards for the purposes of facilitating the recognition in the State of education and training awards made by those bodies, and

(ii) facilitate recognition outside the State of education and training awards made in the State.

(3) The Authority, in the performance of its functions, shall—

(a) inform itself of the education, training, skills and qualifications requirements of industry, including agriculture, business, tourism, trade, the professions and the public service, including the level of knowledge, skill or competence to be acquired by learners and promote practices in education and training which meet those requirements,

(b) inform itself of practices outside the State in respect of matters relevant to its functions,

(c) give effect to the policies relating to education and training which from time to time are established, and notified in writing to the Authority, by the Minister, or by any other Minister with the agreement of the Minister, following consultation with the Authority, and

(d) consult, as it considers appropriate, with universities, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, the Further Education and Training Awards Council, the Dublin Institute of Technology, recognised institutions, An Foras, CERT, Teagasc, An Bord Iascaigh Mhara, educational or training institutions established by a vocational education committee, other providers of education and training, persons, or bodies of persons, who represent employees of providers of education and training or who represent learners, An tÚdarás, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and such other persons or bodies of persons as the Authority considers appropriate, and the Authority shall consider the views, if any, of those bodies for the purpose of determining the procedures referred to in subsection (2)(d).

9. —(1) The Authority may from time to time review the performance by the Further Education and Training Awards Council or the Higher Education and Training Awards Council of its functions and may make such recommendations to the Council concerned in respect of that performance, as the Authority thinks fit.

(2) The Further Education and Training Awards Council or the Higher Education and Training Awards Council shall implement recommendations, if any, made by the Authority under subsection (1).

(3) The Authority shall publish in such form and manner as it considers appropriate the results of a review under subsection (1).

10. —(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Authority may determine—

(a) whether any particular programme of education and training is higher education and training or further education and training, or

(b) whether the standard of knowledge, skill or competence to be acquired by a learner for the purposes of an award is at the level of a further education and training award or of a higher education and training award.

(2) In making a determination under subsection (1) the Authority shall have regard, as the Authority considers appropriate, to—

(a) the programme of education and training concerned, or

(b) the standard of knowledge, skill or competence acquired by a learner however acquired, or

(c) the programme of education and training concerned and the standard of knowledge, skill or competence acquired by a learner however acquired.

(3) A programme of education and training, which leads to the attainment by learners of a standard of knowledge, skill or competence which is not higher than the level at which, before the 3rd day of March, 1999, the National Council for Vocational Awards has made awards, shall be deemed to be further education and training, unless otherwise determined by the Authority under subsection (1).

11. —(1) In each year there shall be paid by the Minister, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to the Authority, a grant or grants of such amount as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, thinks fit.

(2) In each year there may be paid by the Authority, out of moneys received by it under subsection (1), a grant or grants, of such amount as the Authority thinks fit, to the Higher Education and Training Awards Council and to the Further Education and Training Awards Council.

(3) A payment under subsection (2) to the Higher Education and Training Awards Council or to the Further Education and Training Awards Council, as the case may be, shall be made in such manner and subject to such conditions as the Authority thinks fit.