Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The European Union has now adopted the Magnitsky Act, which is something that is very welcome. We need to ensure that those sanctions are used against the last dictatorship in Europe, Belarus. We have spoken in this House before about the need to address the abuses of Lukashenko. Even last weekend we saw that more than 300 people were detained during peaceful protests by those looking for democracy and human rights. I know the Irish Government has been taking a very strong stance on this, but I ask the Leader if we could redouble our efforts to ensure that democracy and human rights prevail in Belarus. Members will be aware that the leader of the democratic fight, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has very strong Irish connections. I hope that, at an appropriate juncture, she would be invited to these Houses. I believe we need to take strong action against Belarus.

I also wish to request a debate on access to higher education. Yesterday, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, published the latest in a series of reports that tell us what we know. The HEA noted that numbers going on to higher education are at their highest ever, which is very welcome. The additional places provided by the Government are important, but at the same time, large sectors of society are not getting the opportunities in higher and further education. While the student cohort in the institutes of technology and the technological universities is much more reflective of the population more generally, we still have a problem with some universities, in particular on courses such as medicine and law, which are not more broadly reflective of society. I ask for a debate on access to higher education based on the report by the HEA.