Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the contribution made by Mr. Maguinness. He has pointed out our work in developing education several times. What about the development of management skills and techniques? I am a certain age and can remember that we had a similar problem here 40 years ago, to which we responded by establishing the Irish Management Institute. As an incentive companies had to pay a large levy to AnCO but received 90% of the money back if they provided a certain type of training. That method would not work in Africa but it worked here to some extent. Companies were legally obliged to pay the levy and IMI blossomed, but it plays a different role today. IMI was intensively involved in training in various management skills. One cannot transplant what happened here to Africa, but has such an initiative been considered? Has the IMI been asked to examine the African situation, particularly the problems outlined by Mr. Maguinness regarding organising and managing businesses in responding to the needs of international trading?