Buy a doctorate and put our academic credibility on the line

THE Taoiseach has underestimated the gravity of the situation whereby some of his advisers (it now seems there are at least two) claimed for themselves academic distinctions they have bought and not earned.

The issue is not one merely concerning the careers of individuals, but the credibility of the Irish higher educational system as a whole.

If the Taoiseach thinks it acceptable for his advisers to buy doctorates, why should our top Irish graduates (among them many brilliant students with years of hard work behind them) bother to enrol for PhD courses at Irish universities which will involve many more years (in my case it was eight) of demanding research?