Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I support the call made by a number of Deputies to allow Seanad representation to be extended to all third level colleges and ITs. Last week in this Chamber I asked for a debate on the issue, which is only right. If we are considering Seanad reform, such representation is one of the issues that should be debated and I support it.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Institutes of Technology Bill 2006. In 1964 the OECD recommended that funding responsibility for the institutes of technology be transferred from the Department of Education, as it was then, to a higher education authority. That is 32 years ago, quite a long time ago. If the concept was right then, it remains right, however late we are getting there. No doubt many people have gone through the system and have now retired from it, but the fact that we are addressing the issue now is welcome. I am happy that the Bill provides for such a transfer and I welcome it as a landmark Bill in third level education in this country.

When we talk about education, it give us an opportunity to look at our own patch and what is happening there. From a BMW perspective, it has given me an opportunity to look at some figures and facts in Cavan and Monaghan, those counties being part of the BMW region. I noted that the numbers staying on there to sit the leaving certificate is, at 81%, quite high and that surprised me. I did not think we would be competing so well with the south-eastern region and I was pleased with that figure.

I also noted that if a high number of people complete their leaving certificate, this will have a knock-on effect on third level colleges. This is reflected in the number of people who go to colleges throughout the country, particularly in Northern Ireland. However, the fact that people have gone to colleges in Northern Ireland is not taken into account in the third level statistics from some of our colleges. That does not put some of our colleges, particularly the college I attended, St. McCartan's in Monaghan, in the same light as other colleges across the country. That is a bone of contention. When people are looking at statistics in future I hope they will take this into consideration. They should look at the number of people from that area who are going to college in Derry, Belfast, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and so forth.

Some of the counties in the BMW region are in the top ten in terms of sending people to third level education. That is very good for the region. However, what happens to these people when they qualify? They are well qualified people who have spent three or four years, and in some cases many more, in university. Consider the opportunities available to them in Cavan or Monaghan. There is a type of brain drain taking place in many of the counties in rural Ireland, particularly counties Cavan and Monaghan. The number of people employed who have gone through third level education is one in eight in each county. That means, to put it another way, that seven out of every eight people who have attained third level qualifications must leave those counties. That is a significant problem. It could be seen as a brain drain.

We must examine this issue seriously. I hope the social partners, when considering their talks and strategies for the years ahead, will examine how this situation can be redressed. Attempts are being made to move the Civil Service out of Dublin. Generally, 40% of these people get their first job on the east coast, more often than not in Dublin. It is expensive to put down roots in Dublin city but people get caught in the system. They get married and stay with the job. Now, we are trying to encourage these people to move and are having difficulty doing that.

The concept is correct and welcome for people in rural areas but we should start it with a step-by-step process. Perhaps we should consider whether it is possible to put certain sections of Departments in rural towns rather than utilising the big bang approach of, for example, moving FÁS or the Courts Service. The Taoiseach was correct to say that he had bitten off more than he could chew in this regard. It would be best to announce a new policy and take it step by step. It should be rebuilt from the rural side up, moving small sections of Departments to rural towns. It should not be announced that entire Departments are being moved because that is practically impossible.

In addition, there is the problem of losing expertise from within those Departments. There are enough people offering to move but, for example, where people in the Department of Education and Science offer to move there might not be posts in that Department so they move to another Department. These are important issues. We must examine the policies we are trying to promote. Decentralisation is the right policy because jobs must be returned to rural areas but it must be done on a step-by-step or piecemeal basis. That way there will be more satisfied customers and more satisfied employees in the system. To reverse the brain drain we must examine these situations. If people knew Departments were going to be moved to an area, they could gear their qualification for that. It also might entice them to stay at home and look after elderly parents. There would also be many other potential benefits.

The legislation provides an enhanced and coherent framework for third level education in Ireland and moves the country's 14 institutes of technology closer to the country's universities. From this will flow the type of collaboration and co-operation that will strengthen and maximise the potential of the third level education system. In their more than 30-year history, the institutes of technology, or the regional technical colleges as they were formerly known, have made a major contribution to the third level education system. I believe that the qualifications people are gaining in these colleges are on a par with those from universities and are sought after by employers. Often they are tailored to the market.

Tens of thousands of people, who might otherwise have been unable to go to a third level college, have been able to access higher education at these colleges. That is a major factor in many people from rural areas securing a third level education. Obviously, people would not have been able to afford to go to university in the cities. Places were limited in the universities but funds were also limited for people in rural areas, in terms of their ability to send their children to university. It is a major drain on the finances of a family. The institutes of technology filled that gap to an extent in that they provided an accessible third level education. I see the number of buses that travel each morning from Monaghan town to third level colleges. The beauty of these colleges is that they are accessible.

Some time ago I suggested that the universities, rather than expect people to come to the cities, should consider decentralising some of their departments. With a little imagination universities could greatly increase their intakes if, for example, they located sections of the universities in certain towns. Any of the universities would be most welcome in Monaghan town. Indeed, it would attract a large number of people, even from Northern Ireland. It would also generate new life in the town. Third level education should come to the people in the towns and make itself more accessible. This is how we should move forward. The other advantage is that children can remain at home and it is less expensive on parents. I talk a great deal about expense because I am doling out money on a regular basis and another child is due to go on the books shortly.

The economic infrastructure of the country's major towns and regions has received a major boost from institutes of technology, with the education briefs of the colleges being fashioned in line with the towns' economic strengths and aptitudes. Accordingly, the institutes have evolved in line with their locations' economic development and have made a significant contribution to Ireland's spectacular economic success in recent years.

In most developed countries the trend has, for some time, been towards a knowledge based economy. In such circumstances, intangible investment in knowledge production, transmission and transfer is instrumental in raising productivity and living standards. In a knowledge based economy, the prime function of all third level institutions is education, in which the universities have traditionally been supported by research. Education has driven the Celtic tiger. We were in the right place at the right time in terms of having a well educated workforce.

Institutes of technology have always wanted to be on a par with universities and this Bill gives them that opportunity. For that reason I welcome and the support the Bill.

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