Ivana Bacik (Independent)

It is most unedifying. In the criminal system there is much criticism of the rotating door in the prison system. It would be more damaging to see a rotating door in the Cabinet as Green Party Ministers come and go out of office in order to give everyone a share of the spoils.

I also ask for a debate on third level education. As someone who has been involved in third level education for many years, I was very concerned at reports of concerns about grade inflation. We need to debate this as a matter of urgency to ensure there has not been unjustified inflation in grades. We must also take on board concerns of Google and other big employers, particularly on a day when we are debating job creation. There is a difference in grade structures across different disciplines and we must be mindful of this. Generally, grades in the sciences, mathematics and engineering tend to be higher because the scale used for marking is broader and goes up to 100, whereas in arts and humanities we do not tend to mark that high. There has been pressure on many universities to raise grades at the top end in the arts and humanities faculties because externs are telling us to do this. We must consider this in the context of international comparisons and the differences between the disciplines in third level.

I also ask for a debate on women's participation in politics. The Leader indicated he would provide an answer on today's Order of Business on whether we will have that debate next Tuesday.