Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I agree with what my colleague, Senator Alex White, said earlier. Some Senators have queried the levels of understanding within this House about the banking crisis. I cannot understand how we will be expected to vote on a budget next week without having seen the details of the scheme. We do not have details of how much it will cost the country. We do not know anything about contingencies. How does the Minister expect us to vote on his budget without seeing the details of the scheme? I agree with other Senators who have called for the Minister to attend the House and make a statement on this.

It was revealed in a newspaper article this morning that 20% of students who appeal their leaving certificate results are successful. This rate varies from subject to subject. For example, there is a 20% chance of an upgrade in biology, and a 30% chance in geography. These are factual subjects and I would have thought that one is right or wrong in the first place. The problem with such high levels of success is that they will impact on confidence in the system. Any student who does not get the grade that he or she hoped for will appeal, as this is now the sensible thing to do. That can clog up the system and leads to difficulties at the beginning of college terms. I would like the Leader to ask the Minister to review the whole process of how we mark these papers. It is vital that we restore confidence to the system.