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

I support absolutely the comments of the previous speaker, with whom I do not always agree on many issues, about Mr. Martin Murray's dedication and leadership in developing relations between the Asian countries and the Republic of Ireland. I am half-embarrassed but must apologise that I will not be here to go to his conference in July. However, I am conscious of the number of conferences he organises. I am also conscious that he stands out as a representative of this country working in a phenomenally productive way with all of the agencies. I concur with Senator Walsh's congratulations on Mr. Murray's presentation as it is comprehensive and well-thought out. It is a document that we can literally ratify and pass on to the various Departments, including the Departments of Education and Skills, Foreign Affairs and Trade and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I thank Mr. Murray's organisation for doing such a professional job.

I will pick up some of the points Mr. Murray made that rankle with me. We have dealt with education on quite a number of occasions and questions have been asked about the Irish higher educational structures, whether they are competing and whether there is a single umbrella organisation that can sell Ireland Inc.'s incredibly good and valuable educational standards to Asian students. I understand from a previous presentation that there was a course, either run in Cork or Galway, which ended. It was suggested that the Higher Education Authority had pulled the plug. I made some inquiries but did not get any answers. Maybe Mr. Murray could brief us, if he is familiar with whatever that course was. It was to do with Asian matters.

It is a fact, as Mr. Murray states, that religious orders, such as Columban Fathers, have created an educational system in some of these Asian countries that is the envy of many countries in the world. Having visited Korea, one of the few countries in that region I have visited, I am aware that the Columban Fathers are recognised there as having created the finest educational structures and institutions for the people of Korea. That clearly indicates strong potential linkages not only between the religious but between those with a history of the involvement of the Columban Fathers and educational institutions in Ireland, which are the source of the Columban Fathers' work in Korea. I fully accept the point that we must capitalise on these positive relationships.

I am familiar with Brazil. The Brazilian Government, for example, has sanctioned a provision by which Ireland will benefit from 1,000 higher education students under the Science without Borders programme. Somebody has collectively negotiated with the Brazilians for 1,000 high-level students to come to Ireland under a programme. I note other countries do it. For example, Saudi Arabia's King Salman sends students abroad. Where are we missing out in Asia? My understanding is that there are great working relationships, for example, between Malaysian students and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on St. Stephen's Green. There seem to be strong relations with some Asian countries. I suspect many of these students, who are mainly women, come from Malaysia. Mr. Murray might tell me whether that is another area we can develop in the health field.

Does Asia Matters carry out comparisons between the richest and poorest countries? I am very attached to Laos. I have never been there but I have been to Vietnam. I understand that a programme was initiated between the Dublin Institute of Technology and Laos, which is a very poor country and needs this infrastructure. The relationship concerned the hospitality industry, catering, the management of hotels and tourism. This is an area in which we are supreme leaders. Through the grapevine, I understand that, tragically, that deal is collapsing or the Laotian Government is not pushing it as well as it could. Is there any truth in that? Could it be saved? Laos needs this relationship with Ireland. It clearly cannot compete in tourism, etc., even though it has the potential to compete with neighbouring countries like Vietnam, which is progressing at a magnificent rate. We entertained very high-ranking Vietnamese ministers who came to Ireland to study the free trade zone in Shannon and other areas of governance, so we have some relationships there.

How does Asia Matters deal with the difficulties we experience because of the language issue? Our educational institutions are not catering adequately in terms of educating students in the languages required. Internships or relationships were mentioned. I have had a very happy experience with Dublin City Council, which is twinned with Beijing. The mayor's office in Beijing sent three people, two women and a man, to Dublin City Council for a six-month internship. They worked in relevant areas. I am not sure whether Dublin City Council reciprocated. It was a very clear insight into the work that these three people from the mayor's office were able to do. The point that we should extend these internship relationships to a vast range of other public bodies and governmental institutions is very well taken.