The last time the House was delayed in the morning was when the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey, was Whip and the Government collapsed. Is the Taoiseach aware that thousands of students will march on Leinster House today because of cutbacks in third level allocations and facilities? The registration fee has increased by €80 to €750, the fees for junior and leaving certificate examinations have increased to €82 and €86, respectively, and there have been serious cutbacks in the level of facilities available to universities.

Does the Taoiseach not consider that job creation depends on innovation, patenting, design and research and development and that cutbacks in these areas are a blow to the future, particularly where young students are involved? Does he take into account the statement by the vice-president of the students' union in Trinity College that there is no point in attending a university with a substandard library? What does the Taoiseach propose to do about this situation given the outrage now felt in the third level sector?

Spending on third level education this year is about €1.4 billion and we have continued to put resources into the sector. Nearly every third level institute was a construction site in recent years, with new facilities, libraries, laboratories and auditoria being put up. The figures are there for everyone to see.

There was an issue regarding research and development. We have recently put an additional €25 million into the PRTLI programme, continuing the resources invested in it over the past three or four years. This programme is not only bringing back Irish researchers from abroad to work in research and development but also a substantial number of non-Irish researchers.

The resources allocated in the Books of Estimates last year and this year are tighter in this area. The Minister has been working with the sector to come to an agreement on its capital programme. I do not think Deputy Kenny would argue against the Minister giving priority to first level education in tighter times. The third level sector has done enormously well and is being well looked after. We now have something like 20,000 more people in third level education than in the past.

As regards the issue of fees and rates, there have been small increases in this area. We provide top class third level education at a low cost. The changes made over the past seven or eight years make the system very attractive for students, which is why the numbers are going up every year. I have met some of the groups which protest about different issues in third level. The library and other facilities put into our universities have been top class. Perhaps not every third level college has been done, but we should be proud of the facilities in most of them.

The Taoiseach's stated that most universities and institutes of technology have been like construction sites in recent years. The fact is that capital allocations and building grants are down by 47% for institutes of technology and 45% for universities. It limits what can be done. The Taoiseach referred to small increases. The third level registration fee is now €750, which is not a small amount of money.

Does the Taoiseach support Science Foundation Ireland's programme to contract a large number of PhD students to become involved in research, development and innovation in this country, which could become a magnet for investment from abroad? Corporations are willing to invest anywhere in the world and they could look at Ireland as a centre where brain power is the magnet to drive the future. The conduct of the Government in increasing charges and cutting back capital grants both in the institutes of technology and university sectors makes a mockery of its stated intention to make the country the leading knowledge-based centre within Europe over the next 20 years.

I do not accept what Deputy Kenny said. It is not a question of supporting Science Foundation Ireland; we set it up. We have turned it into a dynamic body which organises and maintains research at the highest level. It has brought back a large number of Irish graduates. The Science Foundation Ireland initiative is worth more than €500 million. The research and development programme is worth an additional €500 million. That is from a base of spending nothing for many years. We did not have a body, such as Science Foundation Ireland, and we did not spend anything on research and development.

Support for third level access programmes has increased from approximately €500,000 when I took over as Taoiseach to €26 million for the year coming to an end. We also have good schemes for people who suffer hardship. We have almost 20,000 additional students in full-time third level education and part-time enrolments have increased by more than 40%. The figures speak for themselves. We have had to put a higher proportion into first and second level education in more difficult times, but 44% of students do not have to pay any registration charges. The other charges are not excessive for the top class facilities provided to third level students.