Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with my colleague, Senator Cummins, about the need for a university of the south east. We have a cross-party Oireachtas group and we are united in our belief that a university for the region has to come about. We are meeting Waterford and Carlow institutes of technology on Monday and we expect them to give us a clear commitment that they will lodge an application this year. However, if they fail to take action, I ask that the Minister with responsibility for further and higher education, Deputy Harris, arrange external intervention.

I also raise the annual report of the Adoption Authority of Ireland, which stated that nine of the 46 adoptees who applied for access to their birth certificates last year were refused. I ask that any new legislation in this area guarantee that adopted people have access to all their records, including their birth certificates.

Senator McGreehan mentioned the success of the €1.8 trillion fund agreed at European Council level for this year. I congratulate the Taoiseach and the officials on their work at the end of that marathon summit. What has been achieved was a real example of solidarity among those countries that are willing to work together in order that all of our citizens right across Europe can benefit. Solidarity is a core principle of the European Union, but so are the rule of law and respect for democracy and human rights, about which I am particularly concerned. I want assurances that regard will be given to those principles in the allocation of that funding. I refer to recent actions in Hungary and Poland, in particular. In Poland, there have been threats to judicial independence and minorities such as the LGBT community have been badly treated, while in Hungary, academic freedom and other democratic freedoms, including freedoms for journalists, have been restricted. A link has to be established between the rule of law and funding. I ask that the policy of appeasement adopted by the European People's Party towards Viktor Orbán and Fidesz be discontinued and that the sort of standards we expect of other countries be equally applied at European level within the Union.