I welcome everybody back and I am delighted to see that it is all systems go for this Dáil session. It is less than two weeks to budget day and there are many issues that need to be addressed. I put it to the Taoiseach that it is essential that there be a realistic response to the Peter Cassells report on the chronic underfunding of third level education and the perilous state of institutes of technology and universities from a funding perspective as we try to prepare the country for the future in attracting investment and producing quality graduates in the years ahead.

Core expenditure for each university student is down by 22% since 2011. The student-lecturer ratio has worsened dramatically from 1:15 to close to 1:20, which compares to an average of 1:14 across the OECD. Irish universities are declining in world rankings. Some institutes of technology are very close to trading insolvently and others are in dire financial straits and will need funding to keep them afloat. There has been little or no capital investment in third level institutions for some time. In a recent letter to the Taoiseach, which was signed by all university presidents, attention was drawn to the urgency of providing €30 million to €40 million for basic health and safety equipment in universities.

Apart from that, we clearly have more medium-term capital investment projects that will be required in both the institutes of technology and the universities. Investment in education is central to our economic future. It underpins it and is the key differentiator between this country and other countries in terms of both attracting inward investment and developing indigenous companies to produce our own world class products and solutions for the world at large.

There are three clear options in the Cassells report. All options include a significant element of State funding. The first option is almost completely State funded. Option two is also State funded, with the existing student contribution remaining, and a contribution from employers through the programme for research in third level institutions, PRTLI, international training fund. The third option is State funding along with a student loan system and deferred payment of fees. My personal view is that option two offers an immediate opportunity to respond. I put it to the Taoiseach very simply that this cannot be kicked down the road. This is something we must face up to in this budget because more than €600 million has been sought by the universities and the institutes of technology in the next five years. It is imperative that we make a realistic response to that in this budget, of the order of €100 million plus, to cover both strata at third level. I would appreciate if the Taoiseach will indicate whether he endorses and agrees with the Cassells report and whether the Government is prepared to respond in a realistic way to it in the forthcoming budget.

Tá fáilte roimh gach éinne thar n-ais. It is important to distinguish between two things. One is the requirement for short-term funding in respect of the third level sector and the other is in respect of the Cassells report which deals with the medium-term future of funding for third level institutions. Everybody can agree that the impact made by Irish students over the years has been quite extraordinary in many cases. Everybody can also agree that something needs to be done. In addition, everybody can agree that one cannot leave it and do nothing. It seems as if the disagreement is on where the money should come from. That is the reason the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, has looked at the issue in the longer term and is anxious to have the views of every Member through the Oireachtas committee.

In respect of the budget, which is a short distance away, the Minister is in discussion with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, about shorter-term funding for the immediate issues Deputy Martin raised concerning third level education.

I was in NUIG last night and in Trinity College and UCD recently. All of the presidents make the same case that they need big money and they need it now. We do not have an endless pot but it is important to face up to that in accepting the Cassells report, which points out a number of options, all of which are difficult. I wish to have the engagement of all those involved, from all parties, in the Oireachtas committee and for them to come up with a view. In much the same way, the Minister for Health is attempting to get cross-party consensus and a longer-term view of issues relating to health on which everybody could agree and then to make decisions in respect of the future. It is not a case of letting the situation drift because we cannot do that. Deputy Martin raised a very important point. The immediate business is to deal with the shorter-term funding.

The Minister, Deputy Bruton, is talking to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, about that. The medium to longer term is the subject of the Cassells report, which details three options, all of which require money, and the issue is where that will come from. We need a real Oireachtas discussion about that future because it is in everybody's interest.

Arresting the decline in our third level sector cannot await the deliberations of an Oireachtas committee over the medium term. By all means, there are detailed issues in which the Oireachtas committee will get involved but all options involve substantial Exchequer funding of our third level sector. The bottom line is there must be a response in this budget, otherwise the Government is kicking the can down the road because it cannot realise the recommendations of Cassells on investment levels if it does not meaningfully address them in the forthcoming budget. It goes to the core of a responsible investment approach for Irish society. Peter Cassells addressed us last week. What was interesting was they were worried by the degree to which working people and people on lower incomes were finding the going extremely tough in terms of access to third level education.

Thank you, Deputy Martin.

He gave a very graphic illustration whereby for some people in this city the rate of participation in third level education is as low as 7% to 14% whereas in another part of the city it is 100%. If we do not move, that gap between access to education will widen among those who have had historically low access rates to third level education, as opposed to those who have had a 100% access rate.

Thank you, Deputy Martin.

Something has to change. An excellent report has been submitted to us. It behoves us to act now, in the next two to three weeks, to make a serious provision in the budget for expenditure for third level education, otherwise we are ignoring the future of this country at our peril.

The Deputy makes a plea especially for funding for third level on the basis of substantial financing of our third level sector. This is one of a whole range of areas that now demand and require substantial funding in the forthcoming budget. The money is not there to do that, nor can it be. We have just come through a very difficult period over the last number of years. What is required now of the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is continued prudent management of that economy that can allow it to grow and, over a period, deal with the essence of the question that the Deputy raises, which is about fairness. The Deputy should go to the north inner city to see the challenge at primary level, where people do not have the opportunity that others have. I agree with the Deputy that the question of second level and third level should be looked at. However, that is about fairness in our society, and this cannot and will not be dealt with comprehensively in the forthcoming budget. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, is talking to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, about short-term contribution in respect of the immediacy of a requirement for funding for third level. We really need to talk in the medium to longer term about the Cassells report. I think everybody can agree that students should have the best opportunity as young Irish people to make their mark internationally. Why not? However, that will require very substantial funding and we need to be imaginative about the ways we can do that. It cannot be dealt with comprehensively in the forthcoming budget but I hope that a start can be made.