Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh a athair freisin. Guím beannachtaí na Féile Bríde oraibh go léir. Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Seanadóir O'Loughlin freisin agus í ag feidhmiú mar Cheannaire Gníomhach. I congratulate Senator O'Loughlin on the fact that it is her first day taking the Order of Business.It is St. Brigid's Day. The Acting Leader has campaigned strongly for its recognition and we will not be here in the Chamber this day next year. Today also marks the centenary of the day in 1922 when the then Irish Free State took responsibility for Irish education. I am grateful to Emeritus Professor Aíne Hyland of University College Cork who pointed out that the task set for Irish education was as follows: "In the administration of Irish education, it is the intention of the new government to work with all its might for the strengthening of the national fibre by giving the language, history, music and tradition of Ireland, their natural place in the life of Irish schools." While there have often been calls for reform in our education system, this is the centenary of a system which has, broadly, served us well. It is appropriate that this House thanks educators and all those involved over the last century who have succeeded in bringing our education system to where it is today.

This brings me to an issue that I have raised regularly. I refer to the proposal by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, to cut the third-level registration charge aspect of student fees. This is welcome. It can only be done, however, in a context where there will not be a great loss of income for the higher education institutions. Therefore, I call again for a debate on higher education funding. It is nearly six years since the Cassells report was published and such a debate is long overdue.

Everybody here welcomes the return of Richard O’Halloran. It was a disgrace that he was detained against his will in China for three years. We have had a debate on China, but our relationship with that country needs to be explored further. It is completely wrong that an Irish citizen should be detained for such a long time. I wish Richard O’Halloran and his family a very happy future, as will everybody else in the House.

I also wish to raise a matter that I addressed during a Commencement matter debate several weeks ago and that I have spoken about on other occasions as well. I refer to a competition mandate for the Central Bank of Ireland. It is welcome and positive that Revolut has today announced that it will be making loans and other services available to Irish consumers. The company, however, is also moving its operations from Ireland to Lithuania. The Central Bank’s lack of a competition mandate is one of the major problems that we have with that institution. It must stop simply protecting the pillar banks and start to encourage financial technology and financial services industries.