Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

Will the Minister not accept that his Department has been in complete denial about this problem for several years? When it was brought to the attention of the Department by academics at the Institute of Technology, Tralee, their findings were rubbished. The Minister has decided to take action only because the issue has been brought to his attention by United States multinationals. The regulatory system is not working, which has quality assurance implications for graduates and in terms of the reputation of our education system abroad. The Minister's first responsibility is to accept that and to take radical action to ensure we have a regulatory system in which people, including graduates, can have confidence.

I strongly concur, as I suspect the Minister does, with recent comments by Dr. Craig Barrett on our education system. In view of those comments, does the Minister propose to introduce changes to the leaving certificate?

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