Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I dtosach báire ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh le clann Noel Treacy. Bhí sé sa Dáil romham ach bhí sé ann píosa fada leis. Fear is oibritheoir iontach a bhí ann agus aireoimid uainn é.

The point made by Deputy Clarke and the statistics she quoted regarding sexual interference, rape and sexual behaviour in colleges are quite scary and need urgent action. It is doubly scary because we are talking about what we believe to be the most educated and informed generation ever. There can be no tolerance for what that survey shows. The third level colleges need to take action to deal with it and to stamp out such totally unacceptable behaviour.

I agree with what Deputy Michael Moynihan said about fair access. Fair access at times can be very unfair. People say the points system is fair. It is a fair system in terms of the marks and the way it is done, but how you get there is unfair because those with resources and from a more privileged background tend to be more likely to get to the high achieving courses. Therefore, we must look at access to third level and the mad points race. It is also unfair to students who at a time when they should be widening their horizons, getting involved in debates, art, sport and whatever else, are forced to focus totally on an exam over a period.

The other point I always found very strange is that there are special access applications for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. As Deputy Moynihan said, if you make one mistake in the form, you are out. I always thought that was a total contradiction. All of us can make a mistake. I doubt if there is anybody here who has gone through life and not made some fairly basic mistakes filling up forms. I remember one day here I filled up the form that goes to the One-Stop Shop and I did the very basic mistake of forgetting to sign it. They had to ring me up, but they are benign in this place, and they said "Would you come down, Deputy, and sign the form."

Academic freedom is important. On the other hand, according to the information we are given, there is a statutory basis for the HEA to implement Government policies.

We need to be careful because the State is putting in billions of euro of your money and my money. Who is the HEA accountable to if it is not accountable to the people who provide the money? I am sure it is accountable for and answers for the private funding it gets.

I would agree with what Deputy Ó Snodaigh said. For example, we have just passed the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 but there seems to be no plan at the level of the HEA or of third level education to provide graduates with the Irish language skills to provide the services we have promised the people in law that we will provide. We have to retain in this House the power to make it deliver those graduates, whether it is by ring-fencing the funding or otherwise. There is a fasach or a precedent for this because we did that with the Science Foundation Ireland funding when we wanted blue skies research back in the 1990s and the noughties by ring-fencing funding for that purpose. I sincerely welcome the establishment of the shared national apprenticeship office. To me, apprenticeships have been the Cinderella of third level education. As a country we have provided many academics but we have done it and left ourselves short of people like electricians, plumbers and other skilled workers that we need. We need a balanced economy and we have to give status across all trends in education.

I join with those who have criticised the lectures that are not in-person that are going on in some third level institutions. That should be eliminated at this stage and it is totally unsatisfactory that students are not being taught in person at this point. We are all in the Dáil in person and if we can do it then they can do it as well. We will all sit together cheek by jowl tonight to vote and it could be a long session and we will still have to get our business done safely. Therefore it is arrogant of universities to deny students who have paid their fees of access to in-person lectures at this remove. There is a lot more I would like to say on this Bill. I have tried to make my points as briefly as possible. Fáiltím roimh an mBille ach tá go leor ceisteanna fós le plé maidir le hoideachas tríú leibhéal. Éinne a cheapann go bhfuil gach rud ceart go leor amach ansin, níl siad ag breathnú go hiomlán ar na dúshláin atá roimh oideachas tríú leibhéal sa tír seo.

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