Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of the thinking of the day. The national strategy for higher education report of 2011 stated that any such move would reduce the diversity in the overall system and have a negative impact on its ability to respond to the country's innovation needs and development opportunities. I wonder if this thinking is driven by university league tables. The thinking the Minister is offering delivers an outcome in which the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Wexford needs to play catch-up but it is falling further behind all the time. As long as the philosophy of the Minister is applied we will fall further behind. We will be in a worse situation in ten years' time unless there is a change of thinking. There is a really good, rational argument for thinking outside the box and looking at areas that need more help. The primary obligation of a State should be to take best care of those who most need its help, whether they be deprived communities or regions. Wexford is among the three most deprived counties in Ireland, with the county of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Donegal, also in the top three. Unless there is joined-up thinking on the part of the Government we will continue to lag behind and will not close the gap. The inequality gap will actually widen.

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