John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I join previous speakers in welcoming the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey. As this is my first opportunity to do so, I wish him well.

I am conscious of what a number of previous speakers have said regarding the framing of the motion. Senator Fitzgerald summed up many of the points I would like to make. I will not support the motion for many of the reasons outlined by the previous two speakers. I felt that the final part of the motion was uncalled for and took away from the spirit of the motion. We have called for debates on education in this House a number of times recently. We had a debate last week on teacher training. The Government amendment is factual and we can stand over it. While it may not be the record the Opposition wants to hear, it is our record.

However, some points raised by the Opposition are worthy of consideration. In all the debates we have in this House I am concerned that we do not get one meaningful proposal or constructive idea from the Opposition. The Opposition is living in hope that some day it may have a responsibility. As of now, everything the Government is doing is wrong but the Opposition does not know what it would do if it were in office. I would be much more interested if I heard its proposals. What does it propose to do? Governments make decisions and they prioritise.