Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I notice there is an all-male panel but I am sure there are some female experts in the Department. I spent a lot of time reading the documents and there should be an easier way for them to reported. Instead of putting all the budgets into one and trying to figure out where all the expenditure goes, Departments should break the expenditure up into second level and third level separately.

I am looking for clarification on certain matters. Is the €610 million current expenditure and €250 million capital expenditure all available for new projects or is it simply precommitted? I was delighted there were so many references to disadvantage in the action plan and in the report but, in the Estimates, there is a gaping hole where third level should be. I understand that responding to demographic pressures at second level is vital but if we are not ready at third level, what are we preparing children for? Are we really looking to progress young people to third level education without adequate education at the other end? The bulk of the capital spend is on primary and secondary level and there is zero vision for third level in relation to capital.

It is extremely important for some provisions to be made in the 2017 Estimates on the basis that we will be assessing the Cassells report. If we were to make any recommendations I do not see any provisions in these Estimates whereby they could be implemented.

There is no provision for capital spend in the Estimates and, with the fear that SFI will consume the PRTLI and the fact that infrastructure is heavily funded in the case of the latter, has the Department looked at the relationship between SFI and the PRTLI with a view to protecting the current functions of the PRTLI, given the fact that the PRTLI focuses heavily on the arts and SFI does not? What chance does third level stand if there are no provisions in the Department's Estimates and SFI drags funding from the PRTLI but does not expend moneys on infrastructure? If we want to attract FDI, especially in the wake of Brexit with the possibility that we will see academics and Horizon 2020 research funding move here, where will we put them? Where will the laboratories be? There is no indication of funding for spaces for that purpose. We are lucky that, in the wake of Brexit, we will be the only English-speaking country in the EU. What provisions has the Department made for an influx of academics and research into this country?

On pages 68 and 69 on the mid-year expenditure review it mentions the position at the end of June 2016 and states that the international strategy 2016-2020 will be presented to Government shortly and published thereafter. I have sat on college boards in the past year but I have never heard of this strategy. Are the universities participating in this? When will it be published and who are its stakeholders?

There has been a lot of talk about improving literacy and numeracy. I have said this a million times but I will say it again. Dyscalculia is the equivalent of dyslexia in relation to mathematics. Resources are available to schools when a child is diagnosed with dyscalculia but the Department and schools seem very slow to respond and recognise this in comparison to cases of dyslexia. Numeracy can be a big barrier to progression to third level so can the Department fund assessments for dyscalculia with a view to making the resources available to affected people? In this was to happen we would improve the rates of people from poorer backgrounds going to third level education and positively affect the study of science. The Department is interested in developing STEM subjects but we will not reach any of the targets if we do not realise that dyscalculia is just as prominent as dyslexia.

On page 5 of the report on the special needs assistance scheme it refers to CSO demographic projections but also to those of the Department. Are both bodies doing separate projections on demographics? Why would that be the case? Why can we not just focus on the CSO, given that it is the experienced body doing this work? If the Department is carrying out its own research-----