Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Barrett’s amendment. The point he makes is that anyone can make a mistake. We had an interesting visit today from scholars benefitting from the George Mitchell scholarship. I remember when the Bill setting up the scholarship was going through the House. The purpose of the scholarship was to enable students to study in the State, the main objective which was peace. I brought to the attention of the Minister that surely if students were coming to Ireland to study peace, the terms of the scholarship should not be limited to the Twenty-six Counties but it should involve all 32 counties.

It had gone through the Dáil unnoticed, but was noticed in the Seanad and changed. The point I am making is that anybody can make a mistake. In this case, it appears a mistake was made by including Bermuda and New Zealand, although no harm was done in the long term. This is the sort of thing that could be overcome by acceptance of this amendment. The Houses of the Oireachtas would be "notified". This is a simple amendment which does not need major discussion or anything other than assent. All the amendment does is add the words "notified to the Oireachtas". I believe that would solve the problem. I urge the Minister of State to accept the amendment.