My Department met recently with NCI at senior official level and continues to engage with the college on a range of matters.
The NCI is a private not-for-profit institution with charitable status. As a private college the day to day operation of the organisation, including issues surrounding the administration and finances are the responsibility of the college administrators to deal with in line with the college’s own criteria. My Department provides an annual recurrent grant to NCI (via the Higher Education Authority) towards its non-pay operating costs along with funding on behalf of eligible students towards their tuition fees through the Free Fees Initiative.
When the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 was commenced, sixteen higher education institutions were automatically designated as “designated institutions of higher education”. The automatically designated institutions of higher education are the seven traditional universities, the technological universities, the institutes of technology, the National College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. All of these institutions were established or recognised under legislation and were previously designated under the Higher Education Authority Act 1971.
The Higher Education Authority Act 2022 also provides for a designation by order process which allows other higher education institutions, including private and not-for-profit higher education institutions, to apply for designation. However, these provisions have not yet been commenced. Work has commenced on developing the designation by order process, including consideration of the conditions for designation for inclusion in regulations to be prescribed by the Minister under the Act. This is a complex process, involving liaison with the Higher Education Authority, Quality and Qualifications Ireland and other stakeholders to ensure the new designation process fits seamlessly within the higher education system. Once the designation by order process is fully developed, the relevant provisions of the HEA Act will be commenced and the designation by order regulations will be prescribed. It will then be open to NCI to apply for designation by order under the legislation.
