Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Time is of the essence. How many of the extra places allocated in the past two years were taken up? How many of them led to students taking up those places? What is needed now is for students to know that everything is being done to help them to progress their education and careers. The Department of Education needs to get a handle on the grade inflation. We also need to expand in-demand courses, particularly in the areas the Minister has outlined where there are skills shortages.

I welcome the fact the long-awaited economic evaluation of further funding options for higher education contained the clear recognition that inadequate core funding has caused colleges to increase the provision of subjects that are cheaper to deliver at the expense of the more expensive subjects, particularly in health and social care. This has been an open secret in the sector. Deputy Harris, as a former Minister for Health and now Minister with responsibility for further and higher education, has to bear a lot of responsibility for these shortages in staffing and third level places.

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