Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the 26 Senators who contributed to the Order of Business. In respect of the amendment to the Order of Business tabled by Senator Daly, I have no problem bringing the Minister for Health to the House, but we are setting a very dangerous precedent if we bring the Minister to the House on foot of a newspaper report and an unfinished and unpublished report that the Minister did not commission. Let us be clear that there are no plans to close any emergency departments. That is the first item to be put to bed. Second, it is not about the emergency departments, as the Senator argued this afternoon. It ill behoves any of us to play politics with emergency departments and people's lives. The Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, at its annual general meeting, commissioned a piece of work about trauma care, trauma centres and how we can get the best outcomes for people with traumatic head injuries. It is about developing a national trauma policy, ensuring that the core of this policy is the patient, and examining how trauma centres can best deal with people who sustain traumatic injuries. Everyone agrees that there is a need to have a national trauma system. I am very happy to have that debate when the report is published. Rather than divide the House, I will give a commitment that we will have that report when it is finished, but as of now there is no report. The Minister did not commission the report and the report has not been presented to him, so he cannot come to the House to give an update on a report that he has not seen and that has not been finished. Let us make it quite clear. It is about ensuring that there is co-ordination between the HSE, the Department of Health and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. I served as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children for five years and I also served on the HSE southern regional health forum.If one takes Cork, for example, nobody can persuade me of the need, as reported in The Sunday Business Postat the weekend, to close the emergency department at Mercy University Hospital in the city. It makes no sense. Rather than divide the House, I will give a commitment to hold the debate when the Minister receives the report because at present there is no report to debate. I ask Senator Mark Daly not to divide the House but to allow time for the Minister to receive the report. I give a commitment to have the debate when the Minister receives it.

I am happy to accept the amendment proposed by Senator Mark Daly in respect of No. 18, but we will not have the debate today. I am happy to accept the proposals put forward by Senators Mac Lochlainn and Warfield but, like Senator Mark Daly's proposal, we will not have the debate today. They can be moved; I am happy to accede to them and to co-operation in that regard.

I thank all Senators for their comments on the Cassells report. We are all - or should be - committed to seeing more people attend third-level education. That should be our purpose. I thank Peter Cassells for the work he has done on the publication of the report and in terms of the consultation. As a growing economy, Ireland needs third-level education. We also need to marry what Senators Coffey and Craughwell spoke about in terms of apprentices and how we can make our third-level education fit all people and sectors of society. I spent ten years of my education career involved in adult and continuing education. Its importance is critical; it is the lifeblood of society. The three options put forward in the Cassells report make for interesting reading. We all agree the funding model and investment in third level education needs to be addressed. The Minister, in response to the report, spoke about a ten-year consensus. We need to see that as part of the movement in terms of third level education; there should be at least a ten-year consensus.

The Minister has referred the Bill to the education committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas but I hope, like all Senators, that the Upper House can play a role in the formulation of third-level higher education policy. I give a commitment to have a debate on this matter in the autumn prior to the education committee starting its work. We need to address participation and the attrition rates of people who opt for the wrong course and leave early. We need to address why that happens. In terms of the funding mechanism, how can we fund a sustainable third-level model of education and ensure there is access from all parts of society? As somebody who did not get a grant when attending college, I was lucky I was able to go. I very much treasure and cherish the memories I have of the time I spent in third-level education. I am very conscious there are others who could not go to third level. Equally, there is an issue of participation. I heard Dr. Walsh, the former president of UL, on the radio yesterday speaking about the rates of participation in New Zealand and Australia, which have different models. It is important that we have a debate on this matter. It is about better life opportunities and ensuring we have a skilled workforce, whether that is through the postgraduate studies or via the apprenticeships to which the Deputies referred. There are deficits in our apprenticeship system. I concur with Senators Coffey and Craughwell on that.

The Cathaoirleach and I are from a university city, Cork, where research and innovation plays a pivotal role in third-level education, both in CIT and UCC, as it does across the country in other third-level institutions. None of the options is easy regarding third level but let us have mature debate to establish consensus on how to develop a ten-year strategy.

The other emerging theme in the Order of Business, which was raised by Senators Conway-Walsh, Feighan, Reilly and Richmond, is the activities yesterday and today of burning the Tricolour and political posters. All of us want to see tolerant and respectful celebration of different traditions in the north of our island. None of us wants to go back to the old days. We remember what happened in the past. It is important that calm and peaceful celebration of traditions takes place. I join with other Senators in condemning any form of sectarianism or lack of tolerance. It is imperative that together we build bridges to an Ireland where we can all be equal and where the north and south of our island can coexist on an economic and cultural basis, where we can build on the Good Friday Agreement and work together. It is important, in a post-Brexit era, to have that debate and it is intended to do so in the autumn. On the issues raised outside the emerging themes, Senator Bacik raised the issue of the citizens' assembly. I agree with the Senator that the model of the Constitutional Convention is one we should try to mirror. On occasion, the timelines were not achieved in terms of the replies but the Minister is conscious of the need to make sure this assembly is successful, and I am sure, when replying to the debate, that he will give that commitment and an outline of what he has in mind.

Senator Coffey highlighted the work done on the Construction Contracts Act, and I pay tribute to Senator Nash and former Senator Feargal Quinn in that regard. Senator Nash, as Minister of State, played a key role in developing that strategy and it is important that we all work to protect those subcontractors who are at the mercy of outside forces. They were the big losers when the recession hit. I would be willing to pursue that with the Senator.

Senator Swanick referred to patients on trolleys. We have seen a reduction in the number of people on trolleys. Senator Colm Burke gave the figures for the number of people attending outpatient and emergency departments, and it was interesting to note the number of days lost in terms of the people who failed to turn up for appointments at outpatient departments, which has a cost-----