Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I wish to refer to student grants, which are very important. Every year I have raised the need to bring back the criteria from the Department of Finance earlier and earlier so that grant applications and applications for college courses could be done together. Career guidance should have a grant element to it as well so people from councils and VECs could go to career guidance events in schools and tell people what they need to have because that approach has been very successful where it has been done. When the grant application comes in all the information is at hand and it can be processed quickly. Many people leave the information until the middle of the year which puts everyone under serious pressure in September and October. The Student Support Bill that is going through Committee Stage today will help in the development of a central grants system.

Will the Leader arrange a debate on the matter next week?

This is the first of the 16-day campaign against domestic violence. The statistics are horrendous. Anyone who was in Buswells Hotel this morning to meet the agencies involved in dealing with the issue knows that many aspects remain to be debated. I could go through a list of the information provided, but I would prefer to do so during the debate.

I can raise a matter on the Adjournment concerning the need for the North and South to work together to ensure the switchover from an analogue service to digital will leave the North with a good service from which people living in County Donegal can benefit like those in other Border counties. However, it is amazing that I cannot raise on the Adjournment the issue of the changeover on the island of Ireland-----