Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the Senator's comments. This is an issue we have raised with the Minister, Deputy Harris, and we compliment him and the Government for the investment in the third level education. However, I am slightly disappointed with the Minister of State's answer, to be quite honest. We have done expressions of interest in other areas, including dentistry and pharmacy, for the academic years of 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 yet we have not sought expressions of interest in respect of therapies. We are hoping to do so next year. Hope is not good enough, to be quite honest. This must happen soon. These places must be in place for the academic year 2023-2024. The situation is extremely serious and we want to give some sort of hope to parents and families that this can be addressed. It needs to be addressed in the academic year 2023-2024. Hope, I am afraid, is not good enough. It is not acceptable. This must be put in place.