Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I call for a debate in the House and a national debate over the coming months on funding for third level education. In Ireland there is no shortage of rhetoric about the knowledge society and our aspiration to be world class. The reality, unfortunately, falls well short of the rhetoric. By most indicators, our universities are significantly constrained by comparison with leading international institutions.

On a per-student basis, real funding has been reduced by one third over the past ten years. In addition, very little money is available for the maintenance and upgrading of the physical infrastructure for third level institutions. All of this is unsustainable if there is a real objective to be world class.

Investment in education is not a tap that can be turned on or off as circumstances require. Failure to invest now will disadvantage an entire generation of people in the future.