asked the Minister for Education why University College, Galway is not being established as a university in its own right.
23.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Third Level Education.
22.
asked the Minister for Education why University College, Cork is not being established as a university in its own right.
24.
asked the Minister for Education when work will start start on the building of the new National Institute of Higher Education in Dublin.
25.
asked the Minister for Education why he proposes to abolish the National Council for Educational Awards.
26.
asked the Minister for Education the position of students in colleges of technology who expected to be conferred with degrees or diplomas by the NCEA during 1975.
27.
asked the Minister for Education why representatives of the regional technical colleges will not be represented on the Council for Technological Education.
28.
asked the Minister for Education the range of the consultation which his Department will have with the Council for Technological Education with regard to the funding of the regional colleges of technology.
29.
asked the Minister for Education the body that will validate third level qualifications for higher commercial courses of the National Institute for Higher Education and the regional technical colleges.
30.
asked the Minister for Education if he envisages degree courses to final stage for the regional colleges of technology.
31.
asked the Minister for Education why the majority of the members of the governing bodies of the National Institutes for Higher Education must be nominated by the Government.
32.
asked the Minister for Education the duplication of scarce resources which would ensue from maintaining the binary system of third level education.
33.
asked the Minister for Education if the Higher Education Authority advised the Government to end the binary system of third level education.
34.
asked the Minister for Education if he will outline the structures envisaged by him for the joint science faculty of the two universities in Dublin.
35.
asked the Minister for Education the precise meaning of the sentence which states that TCD shall have a faculty of engineering science but without capital investment.
36.
asked the Minister for Education when he will publish the detailed statement on his proposals for higher education as promised on 16th December, 1974.
37.
asked the Minister for Education if he will make a statement on the present arrangements for the training of primary teachers; and if he will indicate how the teachers' colleges will fit into the new third level education schemes.
38.
asked the Minister for Education if the College of Surgeons will be represented on the conjoint board envisaged in his proposals for third level education.
Mr. R. Burke
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 to 38 together.
I wish to object to that. How can we get answers to proposals for third level education if this lumping answering is to be tolerated by the Chair? Is the Chair aware that the Minister stated that these proposals were going to settle tertiary education until the end of this century? How can we possibly get information about these important questions if the Minister is going to lump all the questions together?
The Chair has no control over these matters and usually accedes to this request.
With respect, the Chair decides how questions are taken. The Minister is lumping all these questions together and we cannot possibly get an insight into this obscure document without close questioning on each of the questions I put down.
Mr. R. Burke
The Deputy will recall that when announcing the Government's decisions on higher education I said that my immediate concern was to inform the public of these decisions——
The whole matter is far too important to be slipped over like this. It just cannot be done. I read the document with great care, I formulated my questions and I am entitled to specific answers.
We are wasting valuable time at Question Time in argument.
I am not wasting anyone's time. The country is waiting for answers to a number of those questions.
They will get the answers if the Deputy——
The country is waiting for these answers. This House will have to vote money for this scheme and it is entitled to detailed answers to my questions.
Will the Deputy please allow questions to continue?
I am not unruly but it is my responsibility to see that clear answers are given to the questions.
Deputy Wilson should realise that when the Chair rises there is a bounden obligation on the Deputy in possession to resume his seat. He has not done so and has persisted in acting in an unruly fashion. I am ordering the questions, as outlined by the Minister, to be replied to.
Will I get from the Chair a promise that I will be allowed to put at least one supplementary to each question?
The Chair will give no assurances in advance. The Deputy must allow questions to continue.
May I say——
The Deputy must allow questions to continue.
Am I being muzzled?
There is no question of muzzling.
I am being muzzled unless I get an assurance that I can ask supplementary questions in the normal way. What are my rights as a Member of this House? Have I not a right to ask supplementary questions on the questions properly put down to the Minister?
The Deputy can be assured that the Chair will deal fairly with that matter. I am calling on the Minister.
On a point of information, surely the Minister has not got the authority to lump all these questions without the permission of the Chair?
He has.
My permission was granted.
Mr. R. Burke
The Deputy will recall that when announcing the Government's decisions on higher education I said that my immediate concern was to inform the public of these decisions and that I planned to issue a more detailed statement later. I propose to incorporate in that statement——
(Interruptions.)
Will the Chair clarify that the Minister is acting with the permission of the Chair with regard to answering these questions?
That permission is usually accorded. It has always been accorded by my predecessors.
Is it accorded verbally?
Mr. R. Burke
The Deputy will recall that when announcing the Government's decisions on higher education——
Surely in the past a bloc of questions of such importance was not lumped together? Is there a precedent for this?
The precedent is that when a Minister asks that questions be taken together the Chair accords permission.
Irrespective of the number of questions?
(Interruptions.)
Mr. R. Burke
The Deputy will recall——
May I inquire what questions the Minister is taking together?
Mr. R. Burke
I am taking Nos. 22 to 38 together.
This is an absolute disgrace and is making a mockery of the House.
Mr. R. Burke
The Deputy will recall that when announcing the Government's decisions on higher education I said that my immediate concern was to inform the public of these decisions and that I planned to issue a more detailed statement later. I propose to incorporate in that statement——
On a point of order, would it be in order to request that on such important matters that will affect the lives of Irish people for many generations, as the Minister has said, the Minister would reconsider the position and come here tomorrow or the next day with answers to each individual question? It is a very serious matter and it is a reasonable request.
I am prepared to accept that if the postponement is not too long.
Mr. R. Burke
I am willing to answer the questions, as I was about to do.
(Interruptions.)
Mr. R. Burke
The Deputy will recall that when announcing the Government's decisions on higher education I said that my immediate concern was to inform the public of these decisions and that I plan to issue a more detailed statement later——
(Interruptions.)
Mr. R. Burke
I propose to incorporate in that statement, which is in course of preparation——
The Minister is trying to bulldoze——
Mr. R. Burke
——clarification in relation to the decisions already announced and the points raised by the Deputy.
The Minister is trying to bulldoze us. He is not being fair. These are serious questions; they are not political or flippant questions. They are specifically designed to extract information about the future of third level education. Deputy Faulkner's suggestion would help to clarify the position if the Minister is prepared to accept it and not to postpone the questions unduly.
Will the Minister consider my suggestion?
Mr. R. Burke
I have already answered the questions.
The Deputies must allow questions to proceed.
Is the Minister prepared to accept the suggestion of Deputy Faulkner?
Mr. R. Burke
I have already answered the questions.
If the Minister proposes answering 16 questions he must have in his global answer individual answers to every question. It is logical to assume that. Therefore, what objection can he have to answering each question individually?
Mr. R. Burke
How can the Deputy know what is the answer if he does not allow me to state it?
If the Minister is asking for permission to answer 16 questions, on his own admission he must be answering 16 questions. What is being asked of him here, having regard to the serious aspect of what is involved, is that he would break it down and answer individually.
The Chair requests that this argument would cease. Question Time must be allowed to continue.
Surely the Chair is aware that at least six months must elapse before a question may be asked again. If I allow the whole number of questions to be lumped together and glossed over we will not have the clarification that the House is entitled to get.
On a point of order, although I am on the Minister's side in this and I have no sympathy for the Opposition who, to some extent, grouped questions similarly, it has boiled down to 16 questions being dealt with in three minutes. Is the House going to be treated with this arrogant, inconsiderate contempt? In my view, Deputy Wilson's questions were extremely constructive. Are they going to be tossed off in one answer in two-and-a-half minutes? This has brought the House to a disrepute I have not known in my six or seven years as a Member.
Mr. R. Burke
I will repeat my answer for those who have not heard it already. The Deputy will recall that when announcing the Government's decisions on higher education I said that my immediate concern was to inform the public——
Deputy Faulkner has made a helpful suggestion——
Mr. R. Burke
——of these decisions and that I plan to issue a more detailed statement later. I propose to incorporate in that statement, which is in course of preparation, clarification in relation to the decisions already announced and the points already raised by the Deputy.
I have the greatest of sympathy for the Chair in this matter. Would the Minister not consider answering the questions in the manner suggested by Deputy Faulkner? If he does that on this very important matter we will have plenty of time to consider the answers. Otherwise this is a travesty of Question Time——
In any event, Question Time is practically finished today.
I assume the Minister has nothing to hide and, if that is the case, what is the objection to answering each question individually? As I have pointed out, these are questions of grave importance, not only to the House but to the people.
The Chair appreciates the importance of every question on the Order Paper.
In this case 16 questions were lumped together. Is the Chair aware of such a precedent?
In view of the need for specific replies to each of the questions put down by Deputy Wilson, may we ask the Minister to reconsider the decision he has taken in replying in one short answer to 16 separate questions? Will he reconsider it and come into the House tomorrow and give the House the information it has requested, and which we as elected representatives are seeking? People in the constituency of West Galway are extremely interested in the future of UCG——
I would ask the Deputy to avoid making statements.
Information which the people want is being sought in the questions our spokesman on Education has put down. I would ask the Minister to reconsider the matter, and I would appeal to the Taoiseach who has sat silently through this disgraceful performance by his upstart Minister for Education, to talk to him and to ask him to bring a sense of decorum back into this House.
The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.