Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Cassells for a most informative presentation. Like Deputy Charlie McConalogue, I would like to know what reports were available before the expert group began its work. There has been significant repetition, rightly so, in the first phase of its work in dealing with the role, value and scale of higher education. We already know this and could talk about it until the cows come home. In what way has the group used what was done before to colour what it is doing?

I accept that these issues need to be established, but we have established them 1,000 times at this stage. There has been a great deal of discussion about the philosophy of education and so on, but I want to know when we will get to the meat of the issues. Phase one really could have been completed in one day. A postgraduate or doctorate student of education could have given the expert group a document on the philosophy of education, why we needed it and why it was so important for our burgeoning young population. Why was so much time spent on that aspect of the work? I realise our demographics are unusual and that there is the context of the downturn and now an apparent semi-boom to consider. However, much of the work has already been done.

Mr. Cassells mentioned the reduction in higher education staff numbers during the downturn. Was that reduction in academic, teaching or administrative staff numbers and how did it feed into the issues about which he is talking? It is very interesting to note that one of the greatest contributions of students in each discipline is in the area of the humanities and the arts. That sector feeds into everything about which Mr. Cassells is talking - creativity, problem solving and team working - all of the great buzzwords. There has been no mention, however, of what the Government has done at second level, namely, given bonus points in higher mathematics and probably science next year but not, for example, in music and the visual arts. Most young people are opting for the arts, the humanities and languages at third level because they feed their creativity so much.

Mr. Cassells referred to graduates earning more than non-graduates. I know many graduates, however, who are walking the streets looking for work. Is Mr. Cassells referring to graduates who are working in Ireland? If so, in which areas are they earning more and what is the percentage difference, or is he talking about graduates who have taken an aeroplane out of the country?

Will Mr. Cassells indicate his view on apprenticeships? I am a great believer in apprenticeships and completely opposed to the apartheid system of education that has developed. Some people are of the view that everybody should go to university, but not everybody wants to do so. Apprenticeships have a great deal to offer. How does Mr. Cassells see the role of apprenticeships in the context of the broader higher education sector?

How does the quality of provision and the quality of graduates correlate with the qualifications of the third level lecturers who teach them? Is the expert group doing anything on the issue of the qualifications required by those who are moulding young minds, particularly in the liberal arts?

Why have we not, as other countries have done, identified the gaps, overlaps and creativities in our knowledge generation?