Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. O'Sullivan for her presentation. I want to pick up on a couple of the themes that have come up. As we will produce a report, we want to gather data to inform the recommendations we bring forward. I want to focus on two areas. The first, which was touched by Deputy O'Dea, is the question of compulsion. This has been a key debating point and Dr. O'Sullivan talked about it very eloquently. It centres on the importance of options and how that fits in terms of the idea of compulsion and fear of sanction as a motivator. In terms of what Dr. O'Sullivan finds to be a motivator, is it around producing options through casework? We are seeing a higher density of caseworkers, for example, with JobPath, but there are still questions around the quality of that casework. How do we ensure casework is effective and that options are being presented? In terms of Dr. O'Sullivan's experience of that casework, does she find in her work that people are being given a range of choices and that education is one of the options?

On another key point, one witness from the Department spoke about some of the outcomes from education and training not being as they would have wished. However, when we had a witness in from the Labour Market Council, he said that a lot of the problem was due to people being placed on inappropriate courses, and he felt that some of the shortfall in education outcomes was around this inappropriate placing. Do people have that as an option and, even if education and training is an option, what is Dr. O'Sullivan's experience of how the placing might be improved in terms of ensuring people are given the options that will work for them and which they will stick with?

Second, Dr. O'Sullivan touched on some of the practical obstacles and I would be glad if she could talk further about them. She referred to the question of level 6 qualifications and the associated difficulties. Of course, when some people are coming back to education, and Dr. O'Sullivan spoke about leaving school at 15, they may not always be going straight to a degree and may need to build a pathway to education. We have to ensure we keep that pathway available. There are also practical issues which have arisen around the back to education allowance and how it intersects with rent allowance and SUSI grants. Dr. O'Sullivan might also tease out those issues.

On the question of choice and compulsion, which is the nub, an important point is the question of timing. Is it the case that the time at which a person happens to be called into a meeting or the time a person may go onto the live register could affect the options they are given? Is there something we could do to address that in order that we do not have a situation where, for example, because the person happens to come in during November, they will make sure the person is on some course by March, and that means the person is not in on the September round of education? Does Dr. O'Sullivan have a practical suggestion on what we should do to bridge the gap whereby people may be in circular low-paid employment and unemployment, which in itself can stop them accessing a better education option? It would be great if Dr. O'Sullivan would touch on those issues.

The figures given by Dr. O'Sullivan were very interesting. With regard to mature students and that idea of second-chance education, which is very important, from the figures suggested by Dr. O'Sullivan, will she tell us where these students are coming from and the outcomes for themselves and their families, given she mentioned a 20% higher salary and so on?