Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

To reference Senator Craughwell's point, there is a great deal of good community education in my constituency. However, it is not strategic and there is an overlap between some programmes. There are question marks over the value of a minority of those courses, although I will not name them.

Turning to Deputy Conaghan's points, Ballyfermot is one of a number of good examples of a further education college. It has produced Oscar winners and been innovative in the courses it runs. The statistics on third level participation in places like Ballyfermot may be misleading, though. If people attend the Ballyfermot College of Further Education, they are not included in the Higher Education Authority, HEA's reports on participation rates, yet some of the people attending it are doing third level degrees. Often, they are not accredited in Ireland but by British universities and do not necessarily receive grants or other funding. The committee visited the college. It faces a dilemma around the issue of not being classified, that is, it falls between two stools.

What is the ideal? How will we deal with the issue of further education colleges that provide third level education? Their work is very valuable. It is very valuable for the people who live in Ballyfermot that there is a college right at the heart of the community that provides third level education.

Education for Travellers is one area that is covered by community education. Young men and older men in the Traveller community need to be given certified qualifications and we need to do more to encourage and support them in that pursuit. Is anything being done about the issue? I know work is ongoing. Are there new plans for the area?

There is an issue with the transparency of funding in this sector. What improvements has SOLAS made in terms of transparency in the overall funding of the sector?