Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not get into that tricky territory.

I also thank her for her kind words regarding Mr. Barry O'Leary's role in the past number of years. There is no doubt his focus and drive within IDA Ireland has been a very important asset and the half-year results for IDA Ireland published on Monday speak for themselves. Under his guidance, this will be the fourth-best year for the agency and the best in a decade. I also express my appreciation for the Senator's support for the appointment of Mr. Frank Ryan, who is a fantastic public servant with great experience. He comes from many years of stewarding Enterprise Ireland and he brings an important insight to the interplay between IDA Ireland companies and Enterprise Ireland firms. We must break down those barriers and see the two as mutually reinforcing so as to develop supply complementary supply chains. He has an important role.
As the Senator noted, this legislation is welcome. To be fair to the higher education sector, when we took office we set the target of doubling the number of ICT graduates and that goal is already in sight. We have set a higher target for 2018. The sector is responding, although the response may need to go broader and deeper not just in the ICT sectors, but in other areas which may not be as well organised. One of the strengths of the ICT sector is that it can guarantee placement positions because of density and organisation. Springboard courses have been exceptionally successful in ICT and we need to see that sort of approach expanded to other sectors, where we can develop better links between employers and the institutes of higher education in order to get relevant skills. Many Senators would have come across some discontent with the level of skills coming out, and this is one way to ensure an improvement.
Senator Conway correctly raised the issue of exploitation, which many other Senators would also highlight. I apologise for not giving due credit to Senator Quinn in my opening remarks, as there is no doubt that his work was very important. We had to be careful of the law of unintended consequences, as there was a fear that the way in which the Senator formulated his legislation, particularly with regard to making illegal contracts legal, so to speak, would have had some unintended consequences. Although it mirrors some of the Senator's formulation, this Bill is different in its composition for good reasons.
Senator Conway also raised a concern about students of language schools. I know this is a concern but the matter falls to the Department of Justice and Equality rather than my own area, as such students would not have work permits but a student visa which allows them work for 20 hours. We do not issue work permits to them so it would not come under this legislation. The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, has intervened where there has been a concern about certain colleges, and it has also dealt with students affected by closures in a humanitarian way. We need to strengthen our reputation in this respect, as an area of opportunity is in a robust, quality education offering, and we must protect that by ensuring any provision is substantive and to a high quality.
As well as dealing with the important case which was the subject of his own legislation, Senator Quinn recognised that we are introducing a retrospective element allowing persons in the period from which he initiated his Bill to the passing of this Bill to have the opportunity to take claims. This is not retrospective law because the Bill is essentially making the provision that work done which should have been remunerated to at least the minimum wage ought to have such remuneration paid. As I understand it, this retroactive operation does not contravene any principles of fair play.
Senator Quinn had interesting comments about promoting new ways of encouraging outsiders to take up courses here and having new methods of teaching. This is relevant and I certainly look forward to the development of trainee programmes and apprenticeships by the SOLAS board. It is top of the agenda and there is now an approved new model of apprenticeships designed to go well beyond the traditional, which were largely construction-related skills, into new areas. Trainee programmes will be offered as a more flexible on and off-job model, and that will be an essential issue. We allowed the grass to grow under our feet in some respects during the boom time, and some of the FÁS work was not sufficiently focused on these emerging skills. We must reassert those elements, and the new SOLAS board has an appetite to do so.
I agree with the Senator that we must rate the outcome of different courses. I will ask the future skills group, which spans both my Department and the Department of Education and Skills, if we can get that data. I have seen some data of that nature, mixed in quality, and it is interesting. Science graduates do not do particularly well, which is surprising, and it seems one must be in technology, engineering and mathematics because those graduates are in scarce supply. The Senator is correct in saying that students should see more of a course outcome in order to make choices on a more informed basis. We can see what data can be obtained, and I am sure the Higher Education Authority can play a significant role in this respect.
Interestingly, there is a tax break for language, although it is from old God's time. I remember it was introduced in the 1980s and I have just checked it. The limit for the tax relief to be claimed is €1,270 and perhaps it has fallen into disuse. It was for ICT and foreign languages in the 1980s. The advantage of an existing scheme is that it is easier to expand it rather than getting the Department of Finance to introduce a new scheme. Maybe there is an opportunity to prise the door open if we can show the tax relief is generating some interesting activity. We will have to see if there is a demand from employers and workers.
There is no doubt in my mind that there is a big gap in Ireland in international selling skills, which takes in selling and languages. We need to get the finger out in developing international selling skills. Everybody likes to do marketing but nobody seems to want to do the selling. Selling is what butters the parsnips. Senator Kelly mentioned an individual and I will get his name later. There are some officials from the Department of Justice and Equality with us because we are handling some justice issues with the Bill, so they can follow up the issue.
I thank Senators for their compliments for the domestic workers convention. It is a significant landmark and it was great to see the enthusiasm of those directly affected and who campaigned for this when we formally publicised the signing of the convention. Senators also raised the issue of au pairs, which is of some concern. There is no doubt that cultural exchange used to welcomed and it has never required a work permit. Nevertheless, incidents of exploitation can arise, and the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, works close with the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, which indicates cases for inspection. NERA has pursued and prosecuted some cases, so it is very much aware that a boundary can be crossed.

It is not acceptable to transgress on people's rights in the name of cultural exchange.
We will pick up whatever issues remain on Committee Stage. I thank Senators for their support for this Bill, which has been uniform. I look forward to the passage of this Bill. It will provide us with modern legislation that is flexible and recognises the needs of people who are looking for work. It factors in our ambition to fill as many posts as we can through our education system and by the development of that education system. It also recognises in a fast-changing global environment that employers must be able to get the necessary skills and if those skills are to be found outside the European Union, we should facilitate that.
I thank the officials who have worked to get this Bill through and to modernise legislation which, as Senator Conway said, grew like Topsy with ad hocpieces added on here and there. It needed to be properly organised and that is now being done. The officials are also delivering a quality service which is continually improving against a background of diminishing resources.