Mr. Michael Moriarty:

I have been in this job for 17 years and have seen a massive transformation of vocational education and training during that period. I remember how in the early 1960s, if one wanted to advance or wanted one's children to advance in provincial Ireland, it was either through the Civil Service or vocations such as teaching. That was seen as something that was advancing. The vocational schools at that time may not have been seen in the same way, but so much has changed since then. One area in which Ireland differs from Europe is the fact that we enter vocational education much later - after the leaving certificate, when one goes on to higher education. The secondary school system here is very much the same regardless of whether it is the education and training board system or the voluntary secondary school system. The schools are very much alike.

We run a series of business education forums with leaders of industry who have asked us not to send them people with master's degrees who want to be managing director in three weeks. That is a big problem they have. They want people with particular skills. When we met the leaders of the IT industry, they referred to the 4,000 vacancies that remain unfilled in this country. There are fantastic opportunities through vocational education. Ms Canning is a principal and an adult education officer so I might ask her to expand on that point.