Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his comments on adult literacy. I should acknowledge, because it is the truth, that the Deputy was the first Oireachtas Member who spoke to me about the issue of adult literacy. We have been doing a lot of work on it as a Department, trying to advance some of the issues we discussed. We now have a national programme office set up to deliver the new adult literacy for life, ALL, strategy, as well call it. Probably more importantly, flowing from that, we are actively putting in place regional literary co-ordinators. Key to the progress of this strategy is that it is not a document that resides in Dublin or the Department or an office, but that we empower communities to see what they need to do in their area to roll out literacy initiatives. For some, that might be through their local sports club or other local organisations. However, I acknowledge that there is significant work going on.

Before straying, the issue of teacher education still resides in the Department of Education and the initial teacher education unit. I can certainly refer these views to them and seek a view and engagement from them. Having acknowledged that it is within their area of responsibility - this is a personal view - but in general, as we try to reform the education system, we should be more concerned about the standards somebody has obtained upon exit of university, as opposed to on entry. That is not a bad philosophy to approaching this. We have seen good practice in the likes of Dublin City University, DCU, which the Deputy will be familiar with given his geographic location. We have seen good examples from DCU where they go out into communities, particularly into socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, to identify potential teachers among young people through local community groups and sports clubs and try to mentor, identify and encourage them to take the plunge.

My Department has the programme for access to higher education, PATH, bursaries, which are access to education bursaries. There are specific bursaries now in place for members of the Traveller community who wish to access teacher education. That is a slightly wider point I am making than specifically around the Irish language issue. I will certainly feed those views back. In general, and I saw it in my time at the Department of Health, diversity in professions is a good thing. If our professions are not diverse, it stores up a lot of issues, including the lack of role models and identified people for all communities. Professor Anne Looney, who is probably well known to the Deputy, is co-chairing our implementation group. She leads the teacher education initiative in DCU. I might seek a more informed view from her as well. I am happy to share that with the Deputy.