Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Reverend Dr. Mason and Professor McBride and thank them for their stimulating presentations. They contained much food for thought regarding the particular challenges for society. Professor McBride's concluding comments refer to the transgenerational trauma. All of what both witnesses said is a cause for concern. Issues must be addressed in a very meaningful way. Time is not on our side to deal with those issues, and we do not wish to go backwards in any respect. As Deputy Ferris said, there has been huge progress and we are in a much better place than we were prior to 1994 or 1998.

With regard to transgenerational trauma, surely as a society and within the public system in particular there must be a targeting of resources and support for that generation. I presume that many of the people who are vulnerable are in the more disadvantaged areas, as Deputy Ferris said, and come from the less advantaged estates and homes. Professor McBride said there is less listening taking place now. Who is listening less? Is it the public service or the people who are supposed to be delivering services or is it all of us as a society? When the committee visited east Belfast it met a number of different groups but it struck me that nobody raised with myself and my colleagues the area of education and the need for extra investment in education, from preschool through to tertiary education, for those people who would have seen nothing but disadvantage, lack of job opportunities and lack of educational attainment. If we do not target children from preschool onwards, we have no chance of making a better society for the next generation. I realise that will not ease the pain for current adults, but for a family where there is progress for the next generation in regard to educational attainment, which should give the person the skills to get meaningful employment, it is particularly important.

It struck me that day that nobody from the very good community groups and the people we met raised the lack of targeted investment in education. In the RAPID, revitalising areas by planning, investment and development, programme in the South there was a whole-of-government approach, whereby the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, the local authorities, education and health were involved. In some areas where there was good leadership of that programme it was very effective in targeting estates and communities where there had been a legacy of under-investment and, unfortunately, under-achievement by children in education and so forth. We know that a one-cap-fits-all approach does not always work. I gathered from Professor McBride's comments that he thinks there must be a specific approach to dealing with these issues. Communities, individuals, churches, political parties and voluntary organisations can be doing very meaningful work within their communities, but perhaps an overarching approach and framework is required. It will not be easy to put together the architecture for that approach, but if we do not try to do it we will not achieve it.

I compliment the witnesses on their contributions and on the work they both do in their respective roles working in difficult areas.