Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also join in the tributes being paid to the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn. Like Senator Barrett, I was also present and was delighted to lead for the Labour Party in the motion on education the other day, which turned out to be the Minister's last debate here. The motion before the House was successful, which signifies the way in which the Minister carried out his business in this House. As everybody has said, he was certainly a reforming Minister and someone who changed the face of education in this country. As a former teacher, I appreciate the work he has done, as will many of my colleagues in the long run when everybody looks in the cold light of day at the positive things he has done, particularly in the area of pluralism, patronage and SUSI. We saw how he took on the problems in SUSI last year and how they were rectified. This year, 168,000 people have been successful with relatively few problems.

In light of that, I wish to raise the closure of All Hallows College, which was announced a few weeks ago. I have received representations from students attending the college who are very concerned about the future of their education. I understand that a meeting was held last week with the students and guidance counsellors of the college to provide a further update on the future of their courses. The students were given some indication that they would be able to continue their education at the college for another year but were not given anything concrete. Students were also advised that it might be best if they applied to another university or college, but the only university still accepting applications is NUI Maynooth. If accepted to other third-level institutions, students may be required to repeat their first year, which in turn would make them ineligible for a SUSI grant. This is certainly an unexpected consequence and I urge the Leader to contact the incoming Minister for Education and Skills and the Department to ask them to look into the matter on behalf of the students at All Hallows College. We have seen some assistance provided to students at the recently closed English language schools in Dublin and I would ask that the same consideration be given to the students at All Hallows College.