Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

At no point do any of the amendments refer to ring-fencing funding or setting aside a pot of money. I want to clarify that. The amendments, as written, notwithstanding the typo in No. 2, make no reference to ring-fencing funding.

The recurring phrase in the amendments is "to insert the following"; at no point do they say "to replace" or "to remove". None of the amendments undermine any provisions around parity of esteem contained in the draft document.

I accept everything Senators Byrne and Dolan have said, very eloquently as is always the case. Everything they said corroborates the intent of my amendment. We are on precisely the same page. I gave a hostage to fortune in the previous debate when I said I would prefer to be led by a poet than an engineer. Senator Byrne responded deftly that they could work together very well. We are all on the same page and this was purely an attempt to have that stated explicitly in the legislation.

I reject the assertion that I intended to traduce anybody. My intention was simply to make an observation about the political economy of leadership, not just in the third level sector but in all areas of Irish public life. It is about when all power is vested in one individual. The comment was about political economy generally in that space, particularly where funding is involved. It was not an attempt to traduce anybody.