Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The contributions and recommendations are excellent and one cannot disagree with any one of the bullet points. The former Minister for Education and Skills highlighted the issue of education. I am not familiar with the 25 students in UCC and the closing down of the course in its first year. I was involved in the twinning arrangements between Dublin and Beijing. In terms of the universities and institutes of technology, there was definitely a very divided approach to recruitment. The universities did their own thing and there was no co-ordination with Tallaght IT and DIT, which had stands at the same function. With regard to No. 6, the review of Irish education institutions' market approach in these regions, perhaps the witnesses can explain the loss of the course in UCC. We know what the Confucius society has just obtained in UCD. What is the role of the Confucius society in Asian education? DIT has Chinese staff members doing Chinese studies and I presume the same is true of Trinity College, Dublin. I refer to the loss of the school in UCCvis-à-visthe range of courses provided through UCD, Trinity College, Dublin and DIT. What failed in UCC?

The easiest way to target and create wealth in this country is in recommendation No. 4, with the emphasis on tourism, food and education. We spoke about education. Food is the jewel in the crown. With Asian food, there may be some competition to produce. In a market of 800 million people, there must be potential for food but Bord Bia only has two members in the field. I am disappointed to hear that Tourism Ireland is not milking its position in Asian countries because more and more Chinese visitors are coming here. I have entertained a number of them. We have a successful and sophisticated tourism industry and we are doing some work with DIT in Laos. It is trying to build infrastructure in tourism and it is being assisted by DIT in developing a college. I met some students.

We can build on such relationships and give assistance. In Laos, for example, we can assist it in catering for its the growing hospitality industry.

I wish to make a final point about education. I met a huge group of Omani students. I know this matter is not connected to the delegation but I want to use it as an example. The Omani Government has decided to send lots of Omani children to Ireland to learn the English language initially in order to access courses, although not PhD courses. They are being educated so they can be trained as electricians and motor mechanics to replace the foreigners who provide these services in Oman. These students are being upskilled when they come here.

The delegation has made excellent recommendations. I also wish to compliment the diaspora in Korea and its embassy. When I visited the embassy it had a wonderful female ambassador. Unfortunately, I cannot remember her name but she was very facilitative. I found there was a great relationship between the Koreans and us and it was not just because they like to drink a lot of good quality beer. There is a commonality between the Irish and the Koreans that we should exploit. Those are my questions or approbations.