Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I apologise that I have another meeting so I will have to leave at 12 noon. It is no reflection on the discussion and I thank the witnesses for their work. This is a discussion around the general question of higher education funding. I refer to what Ms Murphy and Dr. Morning were speaking about. At present, funding of services such as counselling comes from the core grant. In the allocation of funding, should there be a specific top-slicing made available for counselling and other services? We saw in the past year that the Minister made additional funding available for additional hours. Perhaps Ms Murphy and Dr. Morning would respond to my first question and others can come in if they wish. Should that funding be top-sliced rather than a decision made by each higher education institution?