Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I was supporting Senator White's call for a debate on child care but I would also like to ask the Leader for a debate on third level education in the context of the report of the great achievements of our universities. I echo Senator Hannigan's comments congratulating our universities on their achievement, in particular Trinity College Dublin on becoming the first Irish university to enter the top 50 third level institutions as ranked by The Times Higher Education Supplement. That is a wonderful and remarkable achievement, given the levels of funding accorded to universities. In the context of next week's budget it is important that we at least retain the level of funding third level institutions get. It is also important that we do not see a return of fees. We must fund our universities as we fund the other levels in our education system directly from central funds. As other speakers on this side of the House have said, the problem is that we have not funded to adequate levels at any level of the education system. The appalling state of our primary school buildings is just one example of that but so too is the shortfall in funding we are experiencing in the third level sector. In next week's budget I hope we see resourcing for third level to enable these sort of rankings to be achieved, not just by Trinity College Dublin but by other universities too, and proper levels of research and teaching being continued in the third level sector.

In the context of the budget, I welcome the comments this morning that the proposed merger of five equality and rights institutions may not now go ahead. I see the deputy Leader indicating that he may have had something to do with this change of heart but before the banking crisis emerged, there were indications that the Equality Authority, the Irish Human Rights Commission and a number of other bodies would be merged. Along with others I asked for a debate on that and called for that not to happen. I am delighted to see the Minister has now indicated it may not happen. Now that we are talking in hundreds of billions of losses, the tiny amount——