Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make an observation. Someone remarked that the broad needs of the economy might be better served by the institutes of technology sector rather than the university sector. The backdrop to this is that the institutes emerged from the vocational sector. For example, Dublin Institute of Technology emerged from City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee, CDVEC. The vocational sector was a 19th century movement in Europe and its rationale was education, training and employability. It always kept an eye on the workplace and the patterns of the labour market and trained people in that direction. Employability was the rationale on which the sector operated. It is still probably part of the culture. The universities always had a more detached view of the economy. They remained quite aloof, which was part of their tradition. There was a tension between the marketplace and the university, one that has caused difficulties for the latter and made it redefine its role in society. I am sure that resolving and responding to this issue have not been easy in terms of universities' traditions and history. My observation is intended to outline the backdrop of what the groups involved are doing.