Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)

I want to come back to a point about the adult education contract, which I raised previously with the Minister. I do not believe the Minister took on board the point I was making. This contract is not working. It is causing a lot of stress and unhappiness among tutors across the country and many of them are considering leaving the adult education sector. This is a really important sector but funding and classes are being cut. I do not know if this is related to the contract. The contract is generating uncertainty. There is uncertainty on working conditions, inconsistency in salary calculations and a lot of other issues. The people involved need clarity and they need these issues to be sorted out. They need assurance that there will be sufficient funding to provide the classes on an ongoing basis. Does the Minister know why there has been a cut in funding and the provision of classes?