Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to the House. One of the reasons I wish to speak today is to apologise to the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, for a mistake I made in a debate on primary education last week. I misread the amendment to a motion and did not realise the amount of funding that the Department was giving to the particular tasks I was discussing. This was related to English language teaching for immigrants. After I had spoken, I realised that a large amount had been allocated to it. I was incorrect and I apologise. I ask Deputy Brian Lenihan to pass my apologies to the Minister.

I wish to discuss one particular topic, namely, the funding of third level education. Senator Norris will discuss the Fottrell report. I appreciate and welcome the new funding which has been allocated to third level education. This is a change to what has been done in the past. I do not wish to be accused of looking a gift horse in the mouth, but there are a number of caveats to the issue.

The funding is at the level where it should have been to begin with, but the new approach should be sustained. Education is not an area where a tap can be turned on from year to year and turned off at other times, according to the circumstances of the economy. A stop-go scenario is all wrong. The reason I mention this is because we have had a recent example of stop-go in action. I hope it is a lesson from which we can learn.

In the retrenchment made by the Government after the 2002 election, third level funding suffered severe cuts. The vitally important programme for research in third level institutions, a long-term project, was starved of funds for more than a year. That pause in research funding had a devastating impact on our reputation in the wider academic world. Having attracted worldwide attention by our decision to generously fund research, we then squandered the advantage by pulling in our horns almost before the projects had got off the ground.

A second caveat is that this new level of funding is still not all which is required. It is only large in comparison with what has gone before. With regard to the size of the challenge facing us, it is not nearly enough. I hope the same courage which led the Government to make the recent decision will carry it forward to when it emerges that a world-class third level system will require funding in excess of what is envisaged at this stage.

A third caveat is that funding should not be restricted to the necessary science-based disciplines. I yield to nobody in my enthusiasm for investing in science-based research. However, I would like to go back to the old thinking in what is the traditional concept of a university, back to the ideas of Cardinal Newman relating to an ollscoil. In this place, by definition, everything is taught and knowledge is pursued not just for the economic benefits that it can bring, but for its own sake. That concept is necessary to produce future generations of rounded people. This is the type of education written about by Newman 150 years ago in Ireland. This would produce roundly educated people, not just technicians who know of nothing outside their own specialisation.

Above all we should remember that our third level institutions are and must remain more than just glorified technical schools. While we make sure we are strong in the technical disciplines that will determine our economic future, we must not forget there is a wider picture, which defines us as a civilised society.

I have one last point as I know Senator Norris wishes to speak. At the debate on primary education last week, two figures caught my attention. One was the pupil-teacher ratio, which is now 17:1. I thought this was wonderful. However, it was later revealed that class sizes had been reduced to 25. I did not understand the discrepancy until I realised that approximately a third of a teacher's time at primary level, and probably elsewhere, is not directed at teaching alone. We should be aware that in third level education, research is required into science and into issues that will enable universities to produce rounded citizens. I welcome the funding that has been allocated.