Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want the local authority figures because local authorities present opportunities for craft apprenticeships in particular. Every time I ask this question of a local authority, I do not get an answer. We need to examine the baseline in this regard because local authorities have a responsibility to not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk. Having skilled staff in their own areas is in their interests. It would be good if the National Apprenticeship Planning Office gave us those figures. It does not matter if they are zero – well, it does – but at least we would know what we were working towards and we could set proper targets. I am interested in local authorities specifically, but the others are important as well.

It was good to see Mr. Brownlee on Achill Island yesterday. It was a great launch of the strategic framework for outdoor education and training centres. There are significant opportunities in this regard. The strategy needs funding to go with it, but Mr. Brownlee could sense the energy and dedication that will make it a success. As I told him yesterday, it has the potential to be an all-island approach that would attract students from the North to outdoor education. The benefits of that would not just be academic, in that there would also be an exchange of experiences and understanding as part of the peace and reconciliation process that we are trying to achieve across the island. I congratulate everyone involved in the strategy.

Mr. Conlon stated that reform of the technological sector would allow technological universities "to respond regionally and compete on the world stage" and that the 2018 Act set out an ambitious agenda for the new institutions to improve their research capacity, resulting in a deepening of research-led teaching and learning excellence. During the seven years of Horizon 2020, the higher education sector in this State won €679 million in research funding. The technological sector got approximately 8% of that, or €54 million. The three institutions that make up the soon-to-be-formed Atlantic technological university managed to get €3 million of that, or less than 0.5% of the total. By comparison, Teagasc, as a research body, drew down approximately six times as much. How do we design a funding model that positively discriminates towards the regions that are not at the same level of research and development? The overall available funding is split 60-40 between the traditional universities and the technological sector. How do we create a unitary system whereby the technological sector, and the higher education sector more widely, receive a greater share? Are there other approaches that we need to consider?

Regarding the regional disparity, last week's Central Statistics Office figures tell us that the gap is now three times wider than it was ten years ago. We are all failing in addressing that disparity. According to the economist, Mr. John Daly, capital funding for higher education in the north west amounted to €316 per undergraduate enrolled between 2010 and 2020 while €372 was the national figure. We can see from this why the gap is increasing. We have a responsibility in this regard. What are Mr. Conlon's thoughts on it?