Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

The worry is that it will be seen as a drop in standards. If it is considered that we are going in the wrong direction, it will send the wrong signal to students from abroad who may be thinking of coming to Irish universities. We have to look at the broader issues. I presume one of those issues is funding, but there may be other issues, as the Minister has said. I would like a debate to start on this whole area. The Provost of Trinity College has his own view, as we have said. There might be other reasons for these changes. If there are, we need to start hearing about them from the universities.

See this speech in context