Higher Education and Training Awards Council - History

History

The National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) was founded in 1972, on an ad-hoc basis and granted the first National Certificates that year at five Regional Technical Colleges. Early on it was decided that the NCEA would be the only extra-university conferring institution in the State at higher education rather than having a multitude of competing institutions, with authority to grant awards at all academic levels including degree level. During the 1970s this caused some trouble as Fine Gael-Labour (National Coalition) government attempted to limit the NCEA to sub-degree awards only, later Fianna Fáil government of 1977 restored the full powers and placed the NCEA on a statutory footing in 1980 by the National Council for Educational Awards Act, 1979.

HETAC was created in 2001 under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, 1999 (Section 21) and its first Chief Executive, former Donaghmede national teacher and INTO President Séamus Puirséil (Seamus Purcell) was previously the executive officer of the NCEA. He was succeeded in 2008 by Gearóid Ó Conluain, formerly Deputy Chief Inspector of Department of Education and Science. In October 2008 the Irish Government announced its intention to amalgamate HETAC with FETAC and NQAI, the two other bodies established under the Qualifications Act, while also incorporating the functions for the external review of Irish universities currently carried out by the Irish Universities Quality Board. The Minister appointed an interim board for the new agency. This board appointed Dr. Padraig Walsh as Chief Executive Designate in September 2010. In February 2011, Dr. Walsh became Chief Executive of HETAC, pending the establishment of the new statutory agency.