Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and commend the work she has undertaken to which she brings great diligence and creativity. I would like to see some use of the term "further education" because it is a fast-growing and dynamic sector. For example, all age groups over 18 are flocking to the former VEC schools and colleges around Dublin and finding them of tremendous value in terms of rebuilding a career or for general self-improvement. We need to separate it out as a sector because of its value and how widely it is patronised, particularly in cities, but I am sure it is the same in the countryside. We should pay more attention to it. The Department should examine more carefully how it can foster this relatively new branch of education and make sure it is resourced, particularly in working class areas where people might not have a history of going to college. Throughout Dublin there is tremendous value being placed on it and men and women are attracted to it in very large numbers. I would like it to get some mention and given some distinctiveness in its own right, and to have that represented in documents such as the one before us.