Brendan Ryan (Labour)

The Universities Act imposes all sorts of responsibilities on universities and is restrictive in terms of the right to the title "university". I am, therefore, entitled to wonder if those granted that privilege by way of legislation enacted by the Houses of the Oireachtas are meeting the required standards. The conferring of honorary degrees in the presence of a major benefactor of the university does not impress me in terms of the quality of university life. When I hear from Senator O'Toole chomh maith go bhfuil siad ag ísliú stádas na Gaeilge san ollscoil céanna, I worry about what our universities are doing.