One of the most memorable promises given before the Taoiseach came into government was by the now Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, who said the Labour Party, on coming into power, would reverse the charges for third level students. We all remember the iconic photograph of the Minister signing the famous contract outside Trinity College. He then set up SUSI. It would be fair to say no parent will ever call a child Susie again because students throughout the country have failed to get their payment to proceed to third level this year. Many students now find that they will not be able to continue with their courses because of the now infamous organisation that has been established.

They will not call them Ruairí either.

The Minister, Deputy Quinn, recently nailed his colours to the mast in expressing his bias against the sole trader and, in particular, the farming community. He made an unfounded allegation that they could manipulate their incomes so as to obtain grants. Last week, the Minister confirmed that it is his intention to bring proposals to the Government to classify working farms as so-called capital assets for the purpose of calculating eligibility for a third level grants.

If the proposal were to be accepted, it would severely discriminate against the farming community and sole traders. The reality is that most farm families, or most people farming, do not have an income in excess of €20,000, as the Taoiseach knows. Can he allay the fears of his backbenchers by stating he will not accept any proposal that would deviate from the principle of assessing income alone when students are being assessed for eligibility for third level grants, and that he will refuse utterly to go along with the proposal of the Minister on capital assets?

The Deputy referred to promises. I was reared on a diet of somebody belonging to the Deputy's tribe who intended on many occasions to drain the Shannon to sustain the people in the dark years of the economic war, the objective being that the small farmers of the west would see a light when all the water from the Cuilcagh pot would drain away into the Atlantic.

This is a serious issue.

That was a pretty serious promise. It affected Deputy Collins's county also.

I can confirm for Deputy Ó Cuív that the Cabinet has not considered anything like that on which he is speculating. With regard to the backlog that arose in respect of existing facilities for third level students and the payment of their grants, 69,000 applications were received this year, and payments have been made in respect of 88% of these. I believe 5,795 applications are still outstanding as SUSI has been waiting for more than six weeks for the required information.

SUSI is writing to them again this week. Actually, the process is very much ahead of what it was last year under the old system. Of the students who are currently in college and who applied for grants, nearly 6,000 have not sent any of the information that is required, and which is outstanding for six weeks, while 88% are approved. The Cabinet has not considered anything like what the Deputy has speculated.

When I went to school I learned the aimsir fháistineach. I did not say the Minister had brought a proposal to Cabinet but that he intended to do so. Can the Taoiseach reassure the House that when he does introduce such a proposal it will be rejected by the Taoiseach and the Cabinet, and that we will continue to do this in a equitable way, which is to assess families on their incomes? Otherwise, people who have set up companies would have a huge advantage over sole traders, and the vast majority of small businesses and farmers are sole traders. Can the Taoiseach confirm that he will not add to the litany of anti-rural actions taken by this Government, such as the Minister's discriminatory steps against small rural schools and rural transport, the Minister for Justice and Equality's attack on rural Garda stations and so forth, and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport's attack on the local improvement schemes?

They were reinstated last year.

There will be three in Kerry this year.

These and many other schemes were very important to rural communities.

That is the big boast.

Can the Taoiseach utterly confirm that no such proposal will be approved in this calendar year with regard to third level grants?

I am very glad the Deputy is interested in the aimsir fháistineach. He does not expect me to say that I will give approval to a document I have not seen. His own party did that for long enough. We deal in facts and decisions. I will not speculate on anything that a Minister might bring before the Cabinet. We will deal with issues as they arise and as Ministers present their memorandums.

The Deputy speaks about anti-rural bias. The good old days of using a lot of other people's money are gone. We have a very different situation to deal with. We cannot have Ministers driving around Connemara with cheques from the dormant accounts and giving them out for bóthar gainimh, bóthar sléibhte or whatever it was. The Deputy did very well out of that for a good while-----

A Cheann Comhairle, I ask the Taoiseach to withdraw that statement. No funds from dormant accounts were ever paid for any road in this country.

Resume your seat, Deputy. You cannot jump up and down.

The Taoiseach made a totally false allegation, and I ask him to withdraw it.

I withdraw it, if it is not true.

It is absolutely not true, and the Taoiseach knew it was not true. He knew also that when I was spending money-----

Please, Deputy.

Lots of people from An Spidéal heard that when gluastáin an Aire Stáit arrived it was about the old bóthar gainimh, the bits of tar and chips and all the good news the Deputy had for them from different funds.

Maigh Eo freisin.

The Deputy passed over the hill into Tourmakeady as well. Fair play to him.

I do not accept the Deputy's allegations of anti-rural bias. In fact, when the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, presented the budgets for 2012 and 2013, they included specific measures of assistance for small farmers and those involved in agri-business, and for rural areas in general. The Deputy is aware of, and has regularly spoken about, the difficulties people have in getting planning permission and in meeting the standards that have been laid down, as well as the changes in the demographics and population of many areas. In areas bordering the Deputy's county I am aware of swathes of countryside in which, in the last 30 years, a number of primary schools have closed because of depopulation. There is nobody to attend them and there never will be, because one cannot get planning permission to build. The structure is changing in that regard. The overall focus of the Government is to continue to make decisions which, in as fair a way as possible, allow everybody to make their contribution and to be treated with respect and dignity.