Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter.

The adult education services in Mayo do magnificent work in helping adults with learning disabilities to acquire new skills, including reading and writing. A bombshell, however, has been dropped. This wonderful adult education service provided by Mayo VEC is in jeopardy. A letter dated 5 October was received by tutors which stated that due to a lack of funding to meet increased costs, it will be necessary to cancel all further literacy tuition in County Mayo between October and December 2005. The letter states:

Due to a lack of budget to meet increased costs, I have been informed by the chief executive officer that it will be necessary to cancel all further literacy tuition for the period October-December 2005. I shall be grateful, therefore, if you would inform all tutors and students that classes will cease as and from Friday, 14 October. We regret this action is necessary and contact has been made with the Department of Education in an attempt to get an increased allocation.

Pat Staunton

Adult Education Officer

It is a total and utter disgrace that people who have gone to the trouble to learn how to read and write should be treated this way. As a result, 700 literacy students must finish their tuition by the end of the week. It is terrible news for them and they have received it at short notice. More than 1,000 back to education initiative students must also conclude their studies by the end of the month. It is a total and utter calamity for those people and it is a disgrace that this can be allowed to happen. They are the most vulnerable in our society. They have reading difficulties but they have taken the brave step to participate in adult education.

It is sad that the people who are least able to help themselves and who have gone to a great deal of trouble to enrol themselves in adult education courses with great success should be thwarted in this way. It is unacceptable and unforgivable. These vulnerable people should not be the subject of a cutback and they deserve better.

The Mayo adult education service run by Pat Staunton and his team do good work with people. Margaret Kelly, Marian Cusack in Ballina, Lisal Mercroft in Achill and the 50 tutors are engaged in pioneering work and they are victims of their own success. They were told they would require a minimum of 232 pupils this year but they have attracted more than 1,000 students, a mark of their success. Their target was 45,000 hours contact but they have achieved 85,000 hours. They were encouraged to do this by the Department but their magnificent work is in jeopardy.

The 50 tutors deserve better than this given their wonderful track record, enterprise and pioneering spirit. They have helped many people with reading and writing difficulties, for whom such difficulties were a life sentence as they were unable to get on as well as they should. This service is superb.

Child care and health care support courses were also provided through the service. Students were due to gain a FETAC award next May. This is a nationally recognised award, which would be the pinnacle of their success. However, if the cessation of the teaching programme goes ahead, as planned, it will have catastrophic consequences for the students. If they cannot pursue their courses through November and December, they will not be ready for their award, as they will not have enough modules completed by May, which would be a calamity.

This cutback has serious implications for these students. I ask the Minister to provide €100,000, funding which should have been anticipated and benchmarked. It should have been factored into the budget. I blame the Minister totally for this and I call on her to act immediately.

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