Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a few brief questions. If others member wishes to come in with a supplementary question, I ask them to raise their hands. I want to touch on two points in the presentation. The first relates to this digital inclusion fund. Ms O'Brien has frequently come back to this point during her contribution. It is imperative that such a fund is established. This issue has been brought to the fore during the Covid-19 crisis. Notwithstanding the comments of Senator Murphy and Deputy Ó Cuív, there is an opportunity here with the development of technology. Particularly with devices such as Alexa and so on, many older people are finding it far easier to engage with technology today than they were even 12 months ago. Twelve months from now, when there is a substantial amount of fibre broadband across rural Ireland, that will change again. This is an opportunity to develop new, innovative technologies that meet the needs of isolated communities. As I said in my opening contribution, it is not just about people who are physically isolated in rural areas. There are people isolated in Deputy Donnelly's constituency and many other urban constituencies. They may be in a home with other houses around them but they are socially isolated and we need to reach out to them. They cannot be ignored. Bizarrely, funding for the digital training in which I invested substantially in my old Department was shut down during Covid-19, when it should have been ramped up. The ILDN should go down the avenue of this digital inclusion model.

Mr. Saunders mentioned community employment training, which is a fundamental aspect of the community employment scheme. We should be providing all possible available opportunities for training regardless of what type of training that is. He picked up on the issue whereby people in the 21-25 age group have to do QQI training but young people who have fallen through the cracks and who have very poor literacy or numeracy skills are not going to be able to secure a QQI qualification. In fact, it is a waste of public funding to put them through that process if they do not have the very basic skills to engage with society. That is where the focus should start and I do not mean today or yesterday. Agricultural colleges across the country have run literacy and numeracy courses for students in tandem with the green certificate courses. This must be the fundamental building block to assist young people in getting out of that poverty trap.

I will let Deputy Donnelly in and then the witnesses can respond to both our questions.