So many more students are coming into our universities and college, which is fantastic, but the need for accommodation is crucial, as the Minister is aware, and the new technological universities will have powers in that regard. In my area, I constantly try to highlight the rent a room scheme and the relief that is available, whereby people can rent out a room within their house. We have to see how universities can link in with their alumni networks and graduates who might wish to give something back to their unive…

Now.

This is landmark legislation. We have a brand new Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Funding will be coming through this brand new body to our institutions. We need to ensure the funding is sufficient to allow them to achieve their maximum potential. We are fighting to maximise the funding for research for these universities. I appreciate the amount of engagement the Minister has had with all groups in the Seanad. He has taken feedback on board. We have learned so much abo…

I think I must have come in after it. It is wonderful to see this legislation. I acknowledge the work that goes on. Many people in all offices and Departments had sleepless nights. I acknowledge that this legislation is amazing and will be world class. We will see Ireland up there at the top in years to come.

I move: That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges: - the impact of the free School Transport Scheme to mitigate increased costs of living for families in Ireland; - access for 44,000 new eligible students at primary and post-primary level to school transport; - an increase of 16% in new school transport tickets; - increased Government investment in school transport; notes the: - volume of applications for the School Transport Scheme; - challenge with capacity of bus services and availability of drivers; - impact on parents…

I thank the Minister and everyone for their contributions. I am happy to conclude if everyone is happy and has had an opportunity to speak. The Minister spoke earlier.

With the budget coming up, we are all looking to the supports that will be put in place. It is really important that we look at the fuel allowance, which the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, has been reviewing. This is hopefully something that we will look at next week. Along with the supports we put in place for individuals and those who are most vulnerable, it is crucial that we also support businesses. We have all heard this. In our towns, even this morning, businesses have mentioned that they a…

I welcome our MEPs. I take it that they represent Ireland as a nation when they are in Dublin, as well as the east. I am speaking from the Roscommon and Galway area from the west. My questions here are specifically for Ms Fitzgerald. Reference was made to just transition, which is of major interest to me because Shannonbridge is some ten miles away from Ballinasloe and Lanesborough is also in Roscommon. My questions are really about the Midlands and the west. Ms Fitzgerald mentioned €17.5 billion. Was there a phase…

Does Senator Higgins wish to continue on amendment No. 52?

The Minister had finished his response.

I will bring in Senator Warfield. Senators should note that amendments Nos. 52 to 55, inclusive, are being discussed together.

Amendments Nos. 56 to 58, inclusive, 75, 76, 84, 115, 142 and 143 are related and may be discussed together by agreement.

I welcome the visitors in the Public Gallery who are joining us for this debate. Does any other Senator wish to contribute?

It is clear, when we are talking about the brand new technological universities and even the renaming, such as the University of Galway and so on, that many new bodies have reached university status in Ireland. Higher education institutes, HEIs, is the common term that is used when we talk about third level education. The Minister mentioned research legislation that is coming down the tracks before he left. That will give a real purpose and focus to research in this country, particularly when it is conducted at thi…

I agree that excluding certain groups, not least people in the public service, could to some extent discriminate against those who, on the basis of merit and experience, might be capable of facing the Committee of Public Accounts. Amendment No. 69 would provide that the chief executive would not have the last say on the funding, but the chief executive is the person who is responsible to the Committee of Public Accounts. As the chief executive, he or she has to be responsible for the funding given to these bodies, …

The chief executive will have control of a new body that will have many responsibilities and there will be a great deal of diligence around the role. We want to ensure the best person will come forward for the role and he or she will be appointed by the board. The onus is on all of us, but we hope that through this process, there will be a strong person to represent the body, who will look after the funding for these higher education institutes and be responsible to us as public representatives at our committee mee…

Amendment No. 67 mentions including "reflecting regional concerns". I would see our technological universities represent the regions they come from by their very nature. The new technological universities we are seeing, for example, in Athlone, Galway and Sligo are university campuses that are now in small regional towns. The agricultural campus is in Mountbellew. There is now a university campus in Sligo, Castlebar, Galway city and Letterkenny. They are in places that never before had a university. They are now co…

There is a necessity for a balanced approach in all types of research. I am coming from an arts background, and as someone who did history and French, in our "brand new" University of Galway, I very much understand that. I understand how, all the elements in a university that drive it to be excellent across all topics and subjects that we must also acknowledge that the research and development aspects are also vitally important for the emergence of the region and for ensuring that people who study in an area like t…

Encore.

The school transport system is vital for tens of thousands of families across the country. This is especially so in rural areas and I am sure in the Minister's own constituency as well, where there is just no other choice. He will be very aware of that. In areas of east Galway and Roscommon around Ahascragh, Kilconnell, Ballyforan and Dysart, we do not have a myriad of transport options. There is no Luas or train line running through these towns. I have been at public meetings in Ballygar and Mountbellew and parent…