Second Stage of the referendum Bill has concluded and we will move to Committee and Remaining Stages. It has been a very respectful debate so far but I believe a line was crossed last night and there is great hurt at some of the comments that were made, possibly unintentionally. Could I ask that perhaps a minute is afforded to Deputy Danny Healy-Rae to withdraw some of the very hurtful comments that were made about people who have terminated a pregnancy due to fatal foetal abnormalities and apologise for the hurt caused?

The programme for Government commits that significant Exchequer resources are invested in both current and capital spending in the higher education sector. As other Deputies have raised, in Trinity College, the Taoiseach's own alma mater, in recent weeks the burden of investment in education has fallen squarely on the shoulders of students with the introduction of a €450 flat fee for supplemental exams. The Minister has just said that the protests and the ongoing negotiations have nothing to do with the Government but at the heart of this issue is the Government's lack of investment in higher education which is leading to those stealth fees being imposed on students. The current situation in Trinity College is that the students are waiting for the ongoing negotiations with the university administration to conclude and the exams are only a month away, which is causing unnecessary stress for the students. What plans does the Taoiseach have to further invest in higher education to prevent universities from resorting to demanding those types of fees from vulnerable students in the future?

The Deputy will be aware that in the budget we made provision for a €100 million increase in the current spending for the third level sector. In addition, on the investment side we have made provision for a €200 million investment in the institutes of technology under a PPP arrangement, investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, and other facilities in the institute of technology, IOT, sector. In the investment plan outlined in Project Ireland 2040, we have also set out investment plans for €2.2 billion in the third level sector overall. We have very considerable ambitions for the improvement and growth of the third level sector as a key element in achieving balanced regional development. We have big ambitions for the third level sector and they are endorsed very clearly in the ten-year spending plan.