Higher Education Authority chief’s retirement raises concerns
The sudden resignation of Higher Education Authority (HEA) chief executive Graham Love has prompted questions about the relationship between the funding body and the Department of Education.
Although there have also been internal tensions with his board, Mr Love’s resignation is understood to be mainly due to frustration with the tight control of the department over the HEA and its work.
The unexpected announcement comes just over 18 months after the scientist took up the role, and prompted a call for him to be invited to outline the reasons to the Oireachtas education committee. That call from Fianna Fáil education spokesman Thomas Byrne was followed by Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane seeking a meeting of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) next month with HEA chairman Michael Horgan to explain the circumstances.
Mr Love did not comment beyond a formal statement posted at lunchtime on the HEA website.
“In my brief tenure, I have endeavoured to make strategic development a core element of HEA activities,” he said. “I wish the organisation every success in the future.”
However, one authority source said there are clear tensions with the department about the HEA’s role.
Another said these problems have been apparent for a long time, with particular strains about how much legal power it really has around governance of third-level colleges.
One person who spoke to the Irish Examiner said there is a feeling of the HEA being used a buffer between the department and controversies at colleges over spending and management issues, but the resources are not being provided to undertake this work.
The Department of Education yesterday thanked Mr Love for his contribution to the HEA and the third-level sector, and referred to some of the significant reforms he has been overseeing.
“A performance delivery agreement and workplan are developed annually between the department and HEA to establish the key targets for the higher education sector,” a spokesperson said.
In its report last year on a number of spending and governance issues in the sector, the PAC recommended more resources and powers were needed by the HEA if its oversight role is to be carried out effectively.
Mr Love and other HEA officials had told TDs at committee hearings that they do not have the legal authority to perform some of the functions they were suggesting the agency should carry out.
At a HEA board meeting in March, Mr Love raised relations between staff and board members, prompting a long debate with particular focus on board involvement on different issues.
He had raised the issue of “trust and mutual understanding” between various stakeholders, but especially between the board and HEA staff.
In the statement on the HEA website, Mr Horgan said that Mr Love had contributed significantly to the higher education system’s development and “we in the HEA are sand disappointed that he is leaving”.
Mr Love is expected to formally leave the position in October, but Mr Horgan said the board will begin work soon to find a permanent replacement.
