Vol. 87 No. 5
I have considered a request from Senator Mary Robinson to raise, on the motion for the Adjournment of the House this evening, the following matter:
Intervention by the Minister for Education to ensure as a matter of urgency that full-time tuition be given to students in the prosthetics department in the Dental Hospital, Dublin.
I rule that this matter is not admissible for discussion on the Adjournment on the ground that there is no ministerial responsibility involved.
I am very disappointed it is not possible to raise the very serious situation of dental students on the Adjournment. I accept that, perhaps technically, it is not a direct responsibility of the Minister for Education, but clearly if the Minister were prepared to intervene he could resolve the dispute and since dental students risk losing six months of their course, it is an extremely urgent matter for them.
The Senator will appreciate that I have given a ruling.
Senator Robinson likes to get the maximum amount of publicity.
It is a pity we cannot raise on the Adjournment a matter as grave as this for students which will prejudice their careers.
The Senator has been told already by the Chair what the position is and I appreciate that she accepts the ruling.
I share that concern and I think everybody on this side of the House shares the concern of the Senator.
I have already indicated that this is the ruling of the Chair and I am now moving on to the next item on the agenda which is the Order of Business.
