Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the authorities in Leinster House for enabling us to meet in this place. On the question of education, I strongly support the requests made not only today but on a previous occasion for a serious set of debates on education. Both Ministers with responsibility for education, Deputies Foley and Harris, should be asked in here, not to announce final decisions, because there are obviously difficulties and uncertainties around the extent of Covid infections and how quickly we will be able to overcome them, but to set out principles for the reopening of schools. The effect of the closure of schools in September will be substantial, not only for rural Ireland but urban Ireland as well, particularly given the capacity of many married couples or single parents to get back to work themselves. It is a serious issue. I do not want to point fingers but some of the conversation in the media has concentrated on the problems rather than on the known risks and dangers of doing nothing or staying paralysed. In respect of the Minister, Deputy Harris, in particular, it is time we had some clarity on how higher education, which is now his brief, is to be financed. There is a crisis coming in higher education if the universities do not open up. They will not be able to attract foreign students or charge substantial fees for online education and I would like to hear the Minister set out what he is considering doing, not just what decisions he has made, on the financing of higher education because it is about to get to a critical point.