Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister talks about four characters. I have heard the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Harris, talk about them. This is not abstract stuff. Four characters represent hundreds of students and the futures and dreams they have for their courses. This is not academic, it has real implications. What might seem small on a spreadsheet is very significant in terms of the error that was made. The Minister talked about having no intention of keeping people in the dark. People were kept in the dark for over a week. The Minister still has not answered. He was informed on Friday and I would be interested to see over the course of time what was known at that stage. The Minister was given more detail on Monday and there was a Cabinet meeting - a meeting of the Government - at which the matter was not discussed. The Minister was aware of that beforehand. Why did he not insist that this be discussed at Cabinet? It is one of the greatest challenges that this and the previous Government have faced over the last few months yet it was decided that it should not be discussed at Cabinet. There is no logic to that. The Minister should try and tell us why it makes sense. I cannot make head nor tail of it. Surely such a significant issue needs to be discussed at Cabinet. We need a commitment on the third level places to resolve this.

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