Higher Education Authority waits months to fill board positions

Education Minister Richard Bruton has left eight positions vacant on the board of one of his most important agencies for more than three months — and it could be months more before they are filled.

The governance vacuum is at the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the chief funding body for third-level colleges and an important advisory body on policy in the sector. The situation arises less than a year after Mr Bruton filled 10 long-standing vacancies on the board, a situation he inherited after the February 2016 general election.

He was made formally aware in mid-November that vacancies on its 19-seat board would arise from January 31. The number of vacancies also means the HEA is two short of the legal requirement that it should have seven academics.