Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will reiterate my cast iron guarantee to Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell. As soon as the report is published, I give a commitment to the House that we will debate the report in this Chamber. I cannot publish the report. I cannot have a debate until the Government publishes it. The Minister will come in to talk about nothing until the report is published. I agree with the Senator that we need to have competition. I am not against her. I am supportive of what she wants to achieve. Please understand that I do not have the power and this House does not have the power to compel the Government to publish a report and to have a debate on a report that has not been published would be complete folly. I want to see the Senator achieve her result and will work with her to do that if she will allow me to. I am not against her at all.

Senator Kieran O'Donnell raised the issue of the diaspora. It is an important issue that we should have a debate on. I join with him in congratulating the Irish rugby team on its tremendous test result in Australia last weekend. It was fantastic to see the success of the Irish team on the field. As Senator O'Donnell said, they had a 16th man with the Irish supporters. That was heartening. We must encourage people to come home and we must ensure that our young people return here. We have had too many in a lost generation who were forced to emigrate. Now that our country is recovering, I hope they will come back and become net contributors to our economy.

Senator Murnane O'Connor raised the issue of exams. To be fair, there has been a lot of commentary about the State Examinations Commission and who can correct exams. It has become a bit of a political football now. There have always been people correcting exam papers who are not teachers. I have been a teacher for 16 or 17 years and I want to see the integrity of the exam system and process upheld. To come in here and say that a small portion of examiners who are qualified in a subject area are not good enough sends the wrong message.