Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

One of the issues on the agenda at today's meeting of European Union Heads of Government in Brussels is how the Union can assist in the reconstruction of Haiti. I would like the meeting which will be attended by the Taoiseach to send a clear message to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that Haiti's debts must be cancelled to assist in the reconstruction of the country.

It is also important that European leaders agree on a set of measures to help stabilise the euro currency. These measures must be fair and balanced and not show favour to particular countries. We are all aware from news reports that Greece is in crisis as the Greek Government seeks to implement budgetary changes to address the country's economic difficulties. Senator O'Toole referred to the issue. Ireland has addressed its crisis by introducing difficult measures. We have made sacrifices, some of which were necessary, and had our wages and services cut. It is important, therefore, that we ensure governments which fail to take action are not given a free ride. EU Heads of Government must show leadership on this issue. In stabilising the currency they must not show favouritism to a particular country as to do so would create a dangerous precedent in dealing with future crises.

As an engineering graduate, I welcome today's call by Engineers Ireland for a programme to be introduced to incentivise unemployed engineers to return to college to study maths. Maths and science have the potential to create a significant number of jobs and require investment if we are to fight our way out of the recession. I ask the Deputy Leader to arrange a debate on the Engineers Ireland proposal and the wider issue of access to education.

Yesterday I met mature students taking access courses at the National University of Ireland Galway whose maintenance grants had been reduced by several thousand euro in the past year as a result of Government cutbacks. Approximately 2,000 students nationwide have been affected by the cuts and many are having difficulty in completing their courses. This could result in access courses failing to attract sufficient numbers of students to be feasible next year. I ask the Deputy Leader to arrange a debate on access to education as soon as possible.