Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to see that the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has set up a telephone appliance which highlights the hospital trolley crisis. The reference for it is m.ino.ie/trolley.htm. As someone from the north east, I find it disappointing to see Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda topping the list with 46 patients on trolleys today. It is the case that not all major hospitals have significant numbers of patients on trolleys. I ask for a debate on this issue because I am not convinced it is entirely an issue of capacity. In some cases it seems to be maladministration. I refer to the case of a person who was referred by her GP to an accident and emergency department for a routine procedure and was informed she would have to stay overnight to await the procedure the following morning. I ask why that person could not have been called back the next day and this would have allowed a person on a trolley to avail of a bed.

The provost of Trinity College, Professor Prendergast, gave a very impressive speech yesterday. I concur with Senators Mullen, Barrett and Bacik that we need to have a major debate on the third level sector and this subject will be discussed today. Senator Barrett has warned we should tread very carefully with regard to the points system. I was a student representative member of the committee of the law school when I was a law student. It may well be the same today but at the time the academic members were aghast at the prospect of the pressure being applied to admit students who had not qualified in particular areas. At that time they much preferred the points system, which is a fair system.

We need to look at the exam system to see how the exams can be made fair and balanced. I am not sure what effort is expended on school exams. For instance, in America, a whole science is devoted to ensuring consistency in school exams from one year to another. The provost, Professor Prendergast, is correct in that Trinity College is a world-class institution and it must be given the freedom to compete internationally on the basis that it will contribute to the country through the education it provides and businesses that are created as a result of its innovative research. UCD and other colleges are also very high in the rankings.

The JobBridge scheme is another example of money being given to multinational companies on the backs of pensioners. Tesco has advertised for shelf-packing staff and the JobBridge website lists waiting staff vacancies. These are not the type of skills the Government should be funding because such skills can be funded by an employer who can provide the appropriate training. We need to up-skill the workforce for jobs in the future, not just train people for jobs already in existence.

I note that people from Glen Dimplex are members of the Government's advisory board. They are very welcome and such companies are giving very good internships to students. However, some members of the board of JobBridge are political appointments and I fear they are not offering sufficient criticism of the Government. I have heard some of these members standing up for the Government all the time when speaking on the radio. This is the wrong attitude if something is not working properly. They should stop defending the process. There is a serious problem when Tesco can look for shelf-stackers and be provided with €50 a week for each such job provided. We should concentrate on up-skilling the workforce in order to market the country and to attract people who will provide jobs.