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

I welcome the Minister and his colleagues and I thank him for his contribution. If we are to be realistic with regard to collaboration, then we should not focus on who is going where. There is a bigger picture - particularly if one views it at the macro rather than the micro level - which must be taken into account. We should be discussing an all-Ireland context with regard to providing the optimum when it comes to educational facilities and an education system across the 32 counties. I am surprised that there is such a differential in terms of the number of students who travel north vis-à-vis the number who travel south. When I attended UCD, there were quite a number of students from north of the Border there. The Minister referred to Donegal, a county with which the Chairman is more familiar than any of the rest of us. Letterkenny Institute of Technology is a renowned facility with a huge student population. Just to the south of it are located Sligo Institute of Technology and St. Angela's College. On the east cost is Dundalk Institute of Technology and, as Deputy Conlan indicated, there are two institutes of further education in Cavan and Monaghan. There is quite an amount of educational provision in place at present, but this must be built upon.

By 2009, the South had achieved the highest level of participation in tertiary education in the European Union. That was a dramatic improvement in just ten to 15 years. We were well ahead of Britain, France and Germany at that point. The level of participation to which I refer was evidence that there had been a huge growth in the capacity of our further and third level institutions to cater for the increased demand. Quite a number of those present at this meeting live in either southern or northern Border counties and we are aware of the particular bugbear that is duplication. There is a need to eliminate the latter, which we see occurring each day in different programmes in our constituencies. I am of the view that action must be taken at the macro level in order that we might provide the optimal return for students and for society in general. We cannot have a situation where all institutes of technology and universities specialise in every subject. There is room to eliminate some of the unnecessary duplication that exists in order to ensure that we will obtain a better return for students. I am of the opinion that, as with health, we should opt for a centre-of-excellence model. There is a need for arts and humanities courses in every college but there are subject areas in which, as a result of the small number of students involved, one or two colleges might be tasked with providing the necessary courses.

The Minister referred to framework 7. In order for some of the programmes involved in this regard to draw down funding from the Directorate-General for Research & Innovation of the European Union, sometimes there must be more than one member state involved which is very beneficial. Having served as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, I am aware that there was huge co-operation between Teagasc - our agriculture and food development authority - and its equivalent in Northern Ireland. Teagasc and a number of other State agencies have been phenomenally successful in drawing down substantial funding from Europe during the past ten to 15 years and bringing them to this jurisdiction in the form of a transfer of resources, which has proven to be very beneficial. In order to optimise these kind of returns for the entire island, there must be better co-operation. Governments and Departments can put general policy in place but it is the people who operate at the coalface - namely, the colleges and other institutions - which must drive the collaboration to which I refer at local level. Continually discussing who is going where in the context of third level education has led us down a cul-de-sac. People must see the bigger picture.

On this island there is a major problem with unemployment. Previous speakers referred to the difficulties with youth unemployment, North and South. In addition, there continue to be skills shortages in certain areas. Has a concerted effort been made to address such shortages in an all-Ireland context? I accept that education does not just involve preparing people to take up employment. However, it is part of the remit of our educational systems. In the context of the job vacancies that exist across the island, are the two Departments doing enough - in co-operation with each other - to prepare people to take up such vacancies? I recall canvassing at the Irish Financial Services Centre, IFSC, during the most recent referendum campaign on an EU treaty. I thought I knew Dublin reasonably well but I was amazed by the number of non-Irish citizens who work in the IFSC. Those to whom I refer obviously came to Ireland in order to fill job vacancies in particular areas. These people are very welcome to come here to work. I spoke to a number of individuals at the centre and discovered that there are job opportunities for people regardless of from where they come. Has a concerted effort been made to address the skills shortages that exist? In that context, I reiterate that it is not just a question of preparing people to fill job vacancies.