Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for coming before us. For the two years I have been here and for his two years in office, I have seen a lot of action on higher education in general, and I thank him for that.

As for the south-east university, I will be fast asking these questions. What special measures will be put in place for diversity? A lot of the time we look at pathways and access courses as the only way into university for people from ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities.

What special measures will be put in place? When we talk about enhanced digital capacity and plans to enhance the digital experience, we have not only seen issues with access to digital resources, but also that many people in rural Ireland, especially in Wexford and Waterford, have problems with broadband connectivity. How are we going to tackle that issue?

I welcome the establishment of the South East Technological University. Most importantly, I thank everybody involved in all the discussions on this issue. This will be a game changer in future. I have a related question that I am not even sure if I should ask. Regarding elections for the Seanad, and I am just asking this off the top of my head, will graduates of the technological universities be able to vote in them? I ask just out of curiosity and I apologise for doing so, because this is probably putting the Minister on the spot.