Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to first pick up the Minister briefly on his constructive responses earlier but his last contribution suggests that he will be contacting the Minister for education in regard to this but I remind him that the allocation of third level places is his gig, so the observations I have made are primarily for him to consider. I know it is complex and that there are all sorts of considerations but I am trying to be constructive and I believe there is something in it.

I would also touch on a point raised in the exchange between the Minister and Senator Mullen. I take the point. My experience, and it is true in Cork, is that there were students who were acting the tool and creating a lot of issues for residents. However, the people from the USI and the students union in Cork have done incredible work in Cork. They do excellent work with the Garda and I want to pay tribute to them because they cannot be held responsible. They have done everything in their power to try to minimise that and I believe they have made progress in recent years in Cork.

I have two final issues to raise. On the issue of SUSI, which the Minister referred to, it falls under a number of layers. I am not sure the amount of funding is enough but there is a major issue with the thresholds. There are many people on relatively low incomes who do not qualify for the full grant. In fact, the threshold to qualify for the full grant is very low. Many people get a bit of funding from SUSI but it is not enough to allow them be able to survive on any reasonable level. That needs to be addressed because there is a graduated approach, which makes sense, but it starts at far too low a base and, correspondingly, does not meet the needs of the people.

With respect to employment at third level, in some instances it suits people to work a small number of hours but I am concerned about a trend across several of the third level institutions, probably following on from a greater trend in Britain, involving the fragmentation of jobs. People who are on a few hours are not being offered extra hours and an additional job is being created. That is not fair. People might expect that third level teachers and lecturers are on good pay but that is not always the case. They can be on short hours and that is an issue we need to watch. People working a few hours for universities who are willing to take on a few more should get first refusal.