Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. He, like me, represents a constituency in which there is a university and many third level students. A point raised by the president of NUI Galway last week was that he had a concern about large lecture halls with more than 100 students. I fully appreciate the risk associated with this and how we could not do it but there are feasible methods whereby we can break up classes into smaller groups. Many classes, particularly those comprising postgraduate students, have smaller numbers. The Department needs to ensure that the universities and third level institutions are kept on their toes. We cannot have a situation in the new year whereby simply because a lecturer says he or she cannot do it or does not want to do it, that is accepted by the institution. I thank the Minister of State for his comment. I know he will keep working on this issue.