Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Yes, the quickest hand function in the west. Dr. Doorley spoke earlier on education. We were talking about retraining and reskilling, etc. We might also throw in the clearly apparent skill shortages in a number of areas. It has become very evident that we need to train more people in various areas. Arguably, a lot more teachers are needed to reduce class sizes. There are many healthcare professions that need more people. More workers are needed in all aspects of construction. Then there are the industries that may be in trouble and where many people need to retrain and reskill. I take it from what Dr. Doorley has said that this is a time when we need to remove barriers to higher and further education and training and apprenticeships, fees being the most obvious. I think it is such a time, and People Before Profit has a motion on this matter before the Dáil this week. The very high fees are even higher if a person has previously been in third level. In graduate entry medicine, for example, the fees are €15,000 a year. These shockingly high fees are now the highest fees in the European Union since the exit of the UK. There are many other barriers associated with the cost of pursuing higher and further education, apprenticeships and postgraduate study. What is the ESRI's view? Is it time for a radical look at removing barriers to maximise people's potential to retrain and educate themselves to the standards that we need and they need to participate in the employment market post Covid?