Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I ask for a little leeway from the Acting Chairman to continue on from Senator Hoey's remarks. I feel a little leeway can sometimes save us a Commencement matter. As we are addressing technological universities, I must mention the fantastic contribution made by our student nurses, those who have just graduated and who are currently studying in our ITs. I appeal to the Minister to go back to Cabinet to say these student nurses should be paid for their role as front-line workers. Their position as students should not be seized on to pay them any less, or even, in many cases, leave them out of pocket for travel expenses and accommodation. They are subject to work restrictions due to cross-contamination prevention measures, which are reasonable and which the students accept, to protect patients, but they mean that students have to forego part-time work. They may need to pay rent and bills but they cannot forego the placement as it is a requirement for their degree.

I accept that the Minister has mentioned a framework for borrowing by the TUs in conjunction with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. He also mentioned the improvement in the all-Ireland dimension in subjects and hopes that by 2023, five TUs will have applied. I would like an update on the Connacht-Ulster Alliance technological university application. It was due to be made before the year's end. There is an added dynamic to this alliance as it provides increased opportunity for collaboration with another third level institution in Derry. Has the Minster examined how the range of courses that will be offered by the Connacht-Ulster Alliance can complement rather than compete with courses offered on the newly expanded Ulster University campus at Magee? A graduate entry medical school will take in students on the Magee campus from next September. There is collaboration between Ulster University and NUIG on the medical school curriculum but there must also be room in the middle for GMIT, of which I am a graduate, and the Sligo and Letterkenny ITs that make up the Connacht-Ulster Alliance. As a graduate entry programme, it will be looking for students with a primary qualification in science or related subjects.