Brendan Ryan (Labour)

——a decision which was entirely correct but which has simply been diverted by the universities, which have managed to cream off the snobs of the fee-paying schools.

Members should consider the composition of those attending the institutes of technology and they will see the difference. They are not the children of the very poor but of middle income earners. Members should ask those in the bracket above the grant scheme threshold but below affluence what difference it makes not to have to fork out €5,000 to €10,000 a year for four or five years as their children go through college. In any case, we introduced the change. The same holds for medical cards, for which, although the income level is stingy and ought to be changed, the basic principle is simple. It holds for every other area. However, when one approaches the area of the elderly, this rigmarole is required just to give people a maximum subvention of €190 per week. Am I wrong?