Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will do that. I have it metered here.

Senator Coghlan welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, on the agreement on the Common Fisheries Policy. This is a matter which Senator O'Donovan has raised, as have Senators Ó Clochartaigh and Ó Domhnaill. The Minister has agreed to come to the House in early July to discuss the Common Fisheries Policy. As I said on Tuesday, despite what some Senators have stated in the House, the Minister had regular contact with representatives of the fishing industry before the negotiations and he will continue to have negotiations with the stakeholders in that regard.

We should all welcome what happened during the negotiations on the Common Fisheries Policy which only concluded last evening. European fisheries Ministers have agreed to end the decades of overfishing and rebuild dwindling stocks by 2020. The agreement will achieve what Members have called for on several occasions. It will stop the annual negotiations over catch quotas by EU Ministers with officials now following scientific advice more closely when setting quotas in the future. I am sure the Minister will expand on this when he attends the House for the debate on fisheries in early July.

I will ask for an update on postal codes for Senator Kelly from the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

Senators Cullinane, O’Keeffe, Quinn and Healy Eames raised this morning’s announcement by the Minister for Education and Skills on the setting up clusters in third level education and three technological universities which will be based on innovation, research and development. As Senator Cullinane mentioned, I was recently invited with other Members to attend the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group and ArcLabs, TSSG, an offshoot of Waterford Institute of Technology. It is involved in innovation, research and development with linkages to industry and manufacturing. The proposed technological universities should be focused on links with industry. I will arrange for a debate with the Minister as soon as possible to clarify the process in this regard. Quite a number of Members have sought such a debate and I will ask the Minister to facilitate us in early course on this matter.

Senator Ó Murchú raised the links between culture and marching bands in Northern Ireland. As I have stated on many occasions, music transcends all barriers.

Senator Ó Domhnaill raised the matter of drug abuse. I am assured that the Garda and the Customs and Excise have all the resources necessary to tackle this issue. They have a difficult task. The help of local communities and the public is a vital ingredient in solving this problem.

Senators Ó Clochartaigh and Mullen raised the matter of the value for money audits for small schools and called for a debate on the future of rural schools. The report is with the Minister and it is another debate that we can have when he attends the House. At this stage, there are four subjects on which we will be having debates with him.