James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I heard Deputy Seán Crowe, who I have great time and respect for, talk about how it is a core policy of Sinn Féin to abolish fees. Someone needs to tell the Northern Ireland Executive that because fees are €5,600 across the Border and there was recently talk about bumping them up. That kind of partitionism would make a unionist blush. People see through that kind of rhetoric. They see where that leads us. Let us not speak out of both sides of our mouth. Let us speak truth and tell people that we will do our very best for them in the budget process. We will fulfil our programme for Government commitments, reduce the cost of education, reduce the student contribution fee, target resources at the people who need them and keep our education system at the standard it has always been at. Let me again be crystal clear: no decisions have been made yet. There is a financial framework that we all engage in as we go into the budget. That is exactly what we are doing now. The voices of everybody in this Chamber matter. I will reiterate my commitments and reaffirm my belief in honesty in public debate. Our education system is the foundation of a thriving economy and a flourishing society. It deserves better than political point scoring and hollow promises. Some parties want to make noise-----

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