Margaret Cox (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased the Minister is in the House and that I have an opportunity to speak briefly on the University College Galway (Amendment) Bill 2005. As someone who comes from Galway and graduated from the college with a diploma in systems analysis, it gives me great pleasure to be here to share some of the ideas and recognition I feel the university is due. I also welcome the Bill.

University College Galway has a proud history. In recent times it has played an integral role in the success of the west of Ireland. This does not include just Galway city and its immediate environs, but the whole of the west coast. Until there was an expansion in the whole area of third level education, students from Kerry to Donegal had no choice but to go to college in Galway. Many people are very proud graduates of the college.

When I graduated in 1985-86, the college was a very small campus. The changes that have taken place over the past number of years are a credit to the various professors who were presidents of the college and the vision and attitude they brought to the development of education on the west coast. We have always been proud of our history in Ireland, being on the periphery of Europe, in overcoming strong barriers to become a country about which we are also justifiably proud.

Institutions such as University College Galway should be proud of the way they have managed the development of centres of excellence, innovative and flexible learning programmes and the grassroots addressing of educational issues in the west. This is not to take away from other institutions throughout the country. I compliment all the presidents involved over the past number of years, in particular, the people I have known since becoming involved in public life, including President Ó hEocha, President Fottrell and President Ó Muircheartaigh.

The college has presented a number of famous people with honorary doctorates. I was present at the conferring of Hillary Clinton and Nelson Mandela, both of whom are fine people and we were proud to present them with an honorary doctorate. Many local people in Galway have also been honoured by the university.

However, times change as do society and countries and with that change, which this university has welcomed, there is a need for it to be innovative, flexible and adaptable. If our universities, including the university in Galway, are to continue to be the centres of excellence that we expect and demand, if changes are necessary it is important that we implement them. I recognise the need for this amending legislation.

Concern has been expressed that removing the requirement to have an ability in Irish in order to be eligible for recruitment for a job in a university would have a negative impact on the Irish language. Wonderful initiatives to promote the Irish language were taken by the university including the setting up of the Centre for Irish Studies and the Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, which was officially opened on 16 September in Gweedore. That is an example of how we can continue to present the Irish language, make it accessible to the people who need it and who are entitled to have education through the medium of Irish in their localities and throughout the west. It is an outreach programme, the provision of which should be acknowledged. I commend the college on that.

Having read the Bill, I do not consider it will take from the Irish language, rather I expect it will allow the university to continue to provide a greater service, flexibility excellence and enshrine the Irish language in its rightful place within the university setting and, hopefully, continue such provision at postgraduate level, including that at doctorate level. When opportunities are presented such as the introduction of this Bill in the Seanad, it is important that we act on them.

Similarly, when colleges provide education through Irish or their curriculum complements Irish education, it is important to ensure that either the gaelscoileanna or the meánscoileanna, in particular in the case of Galway city, have a proper feeder system to the university. In this respect, there is only one secondary school in Galway. It is located in a small building and the accommodation provided needs to be expanded. Provision in that respect was included in the public private partnership projects announced by the Minister recently and I thank her for her commitment in that regard, although there is a difficulty in securing a site. It would be helpful if the Minister would keep the accommodation needs of that school on her agenda. We may need additional help in that respect. If we lose out in terms of the number of students attending the school and it is refusing students because it does not have sufficient places or space, the work we do in this area in our universities will be in vain because we will not have in place a proper feeder system. Irish has an important part to play in the university sector.

I plead with the Minister and anybody else from the university who may be listening for the needs of people with special needs to be given greater focus. Children with special needs are being mainstreamed into primary and secondary schools. A proper access programme should be in place that recognises the needs of these people. When a student with special needs finishes secondary school, that student should have an opportunity to attend a third level institution such as University College Galway and enjoy the opportunities that many of us have had to go to third level. While I acknowledge we are discussing the education through the medium of Irish in this university, I put on record the need for such an access programme. I thank the Acting Chairman for her indulgence and commend the Bill to the House.