Mr. John Stewart:

The demand for an adult learner or service user voice on the ETBs would not be met by leaving it to the current provisions and hoping that representation comes through the four community seats. The only way to secure an adult learner voice on the ETBs is to provide for it in the legislation. There is no tradition of adult learner involvement in the current structures and it is our view that adult learners will lose out to other lobbying interests and powerful stakeholder groups. Providing a dedicated seat through the legislation is the only way to give the learners the respect they deserve, particularly learners who have benefited least from education services in the past. I was delighted to hear the support from Deputies Ó Ríordáin, McConalogue and O'Brien for that position.

We would not like to be involved in categorising the other seats. We would simply say it is essential that adult learners have a guaranteed and dedicated seat within the legislation. We are not just talking about literacy learners. We are talking about 200,000 adult learners.