Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no question that the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and I recognise the difficult challenges in adult literacy. When the OECD results come out in October, I hope they will show an improvement in our situation. No one can deny, however, that we have a long road to travel in this.

According to those drafting the legislation, the problem, in a narrow legalistic sense, of singling out adult literacy as one element of the overall development of SOLAS’s strategy means that one would have to list every other element. One would have to forensically go through current further education provision and all the different strands provided in it and then seek to include them in the strategy. That is nigh-on possible to do, as this is a fluid sector in which there is innovation all the time.

The Minister has made several statements in the past about the challenges that exist in both child and adult literacy. He has the powers to direct the board of SOLAS if his concerns about adult literacy and other areas of further education are not addressed. In doing so, he can oblige the board to redraft its strategy and consult with NALA, AONTAS and others involved in adult literacy provision.

I accept there is a symbolism in attaching this function in the legislation. However, at the same time we need to ensure we are not narrowing our options for the future. The spirit and the intent of the Deputies’ points are taken on board and we will see if we can address them within the narrow confines of the legislation before Report Stage.