Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

As the Sinn Féin Senator rightly pointed out, the situation of rural schools will now worsen as the cost of saving some of the DEIS positions will be spread over the entirety of the country through cuts to capitation grants. Notwithstanding the difficulties that every Administration faces in providing funding on an ongoing basis, the current Government will go down in history as the most anti-rural Government. It is appropriate that the Minister be asked to come to the House to explain his decision because the situation as it stands is simply unacceptable to many parts of rural Ireland, which constitute a large proportion of the country from a geographic and population perspective.

I support Senator Keane's call for a debate on the procurement of advice by the Government and State agencies. All of the professional advice sought by the Government on an ongoing basis is provided from between the Royal Canal and Grand Canal in Dublin. How is that competitive? How does it support small businesses throughout the country? Can Senators point me to one Department or State agency which procures legal services from a firm in Athlone or accountancy services from a firm in Donegal? There is none.