Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. I want to raise a particular issue and I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, is in attendance as I hope he might relay the matter to his colleague, the Tánaiste.

In my area of Roscommon-south Leitrim, we are lucky to have three institutes of technology quite close to us — GMIT, which is based on two campuses in Galway and Mayo, Sligo Institute of Technology and Athlone Institute of Technology, on the edge of the county. They provide an excellent service throughout the region. Talking in particular of the BMW region and regional balance, we only have one third level university in the BMW region. That will be a serious challenge for the Government in the future.

Since the foundation of the institutes of technology, they have remained a poorer cousin in the third level system and have been driven to distinguish themselves by being innovative and responsive to students and to employer needs. They have rarely been afforded the luxury of being presented or offered the protective custody of an inherent right or privilege to establish and deliver specific courses and programmes. Because of that, the three institutes of technology in my constituency, GMIT, Athlone and Sligo, have adapted and have looked at where the needs are and how they can develop programmes.

Since the mid-1990s, as a country we have recognised that the educational and economic risk associated with the decline in the uptake of science programmes, especially at third level, would have a major impact on the development of our economy. Science programmes in the institutes of technology have probably always been more at risk than in universities because as the Central Applications Office points fell in universities and the institutes, students tended to go to universities where, as they saw it, there were opportunities to get a higher status degree, issued from a university, rather than going to the institutes of technology. As a consequence, the institutes of technology have had to innovate and provide a new range of subjects. The institute I know best, the institute of technology in Athlone, is a good example of this. There are other examples in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology and Sligo IT.

Athlone has produced core important undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in chemistry, toxicology, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical sciences and provides direct support and training to industry. As the health care sector, particularly in the midlands, has expanded over recent years, support has been given to the pharmaceutical industry locally. In addition to clinical nurse training, Athlone now provides veterinary nursing, dental nursing and pharmacy technician courses.

After listening to the Minister's comments last night I considered it important to contribute to the debate. She said that the Bill is a highly significant development for the future of Ireland's education system, especially the higher education system. She described it as an explicit recognition of the importance and value of the institutes of technology to citizens and the education system. That comment annoyed me because that is not the case, although it is probably not intentional on the part of the Minister.

I am anxious to bring two matters to the Minister's attention. The first is something she dealt with in the House when I raised it some time ago. It was a proposal developed in Athlone Institute of Technology, with a number of other bodies, to establish a national institute for bioprocessing research and training. IDA Ireland had invited proposals in 2004 for collaborative groups of academic institutions to undertake this development. The three main functions of the new institute would be training and education in bioprocessing, research in bioprocessing technologies and scale-up capabilities for the stakeholder institutions.

One of the key elements of the proposal related to the location of the institute. Athlone Institute of Technology, together with DCU, NUI Galway and a number of other institutions, made a submission to IDA Ireland a number of years ago to establish that institute in Athlone. This was supported and encouraged by IDA Ireland at the time and Mr. Sean Dorgan, its chief executive, publicly indicated that the project would be developed on the Athlone campus. The four local authorities in the midlands also supported the project.

However, a number of the larger universities and biopharmaceutical companies in the Dublin region got wind of what was happening and kicked up a stink, with the result that the competition was expanded. The Government subsequently designated UCD as the preferred bidder and that centre is being located in Dublin. Although it had been developed by Athlone Institute of Technology, the other universities decided it was a good idea so they took it up.

Another area where Athlone Institute of Technology put forward a good proposal was in podiatry training. There is no such training school at present. The FÁS health care skills monitoring report in August 2005 stated that it is unsatisfactory that no podiatry course is provided in the education sector, particularly given that chiropodists will require formal qualification when statutory registration is introduced. At present, Ireland has only one third the number of registered podiatrists Scotland has. That country produces 90 podiatrists per year from two schools of podiatry in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ireland does not have any such course.

Let us consider the substantial cost to the health service of diabetes. There is a significant demand and need for podiatrists. There is also a major problem in the west with transport services for people to attend clinics in the region. They cannot access such services. With the proposal from Athlone, it would be possible to bring podiatrists into the region, train more of them and have an easily accessible service. Representatives of the college met the Tánaiste about the proposal, on which the institute has done much of the background work.

However, what really annoyed them was the reply the Tánaiste gave me yesterday: "I understand that the HSE is of the view that the school of podiatry would be best located in a large centre of population, one that is associated with a multidisciplinary health professional environment and which is linked to a major teaching hospital". This is a shock to the health service staff dealing with Athlone Institute of Technology on the matter. This institute has found a niche, developed the course and conducted a significant amount of research but has discovered it cannot be located in Athlone and must be in a major centre of population. That decision is being taken by the Health Service Executive, although the staff working with Athlone Institute of Technology on this issue knew nothing about it.

The Tánaiste said that the final decision on the location of the school will be a matter for the Minister for Education and Science. It is hugely frustrating for the staff of Athlone Institute of Technology who have developed nursing programmes, established strong relationships with the Health Service Executive over recent years and are seeking to develop niche disciplines such as podiatry. They have been told Athlone will not get the podiatry school because it is not a major population centre.

In the US and the UK, podiatry is offered both within and outside a traditional medical training environment. In the UK, a number of former polytechnics — the equivalent of our institutes of technology — are successfully engaged in the provision of podiatric medicine education. In 2003 in the UK, when there was a review of podiatry training in the country, it appeared that London, the capital, would be without any training school for podiatry medicine. The argument that the location of podiatry training in Ireland should be limited to major centres of population appears quite farcical.

Athlone Institute of Technology developed a BSc programme in podiatry two years ago but has encountered numerous barriers to offering this programme through the CAO system. The institute effectively instigated the research and development of a BSc in podiatry in Ireland. During that research, representatives of the institute visited three podiatry schools in Brighton, Jordanstown and Caledonian University. None of these schools is attached to medical teaching hospitals, which is the recommendation mentioned by the Tánaiste.

The Tánaiste visited Athlone Institute of Technology 15 months ago and, on her advice, the institute developed the clinical training model, including training in Tallaght Hospital because it is recognised as having the best endocrine podiatry clinic in the country. The institute defined the clinical training needs of the students based on the UK Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists quality assurance committee for podiatry handbook. It has a building on the campus which would be a suitable location for a clinic. The registration requirements stipulate that there must be 1,000 hours of clinical training but the institute's programme will have 1,600 hours of such training.

Athlone Institute of Technology is ready to get the programme up and running. It can take in undergraduate students from 1 September next. However, it is being prevented from doing so by the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Education and Science. For that reason it was most frustrating to hear the Minister speak last night about encouraging, promoting and developing the institutes of technology when the two Departments are dragging their heels on this issue. There is an attempt behind the scenes to relocate that school in Dublin. The midlands will lose out again because pressure will be put on Ministers to switch the investment to Dublin.

It will be six years before a qualified podiatrist will emerge from the universities in Dublin. That means a six-year delay for a service that is needed and which the Tánaiste acknowledges is important. The provision of acute services due to the lack of specific treatment for people with diabetes and podiatry problems makes up 10% of the overall health service demand. One can only imagine the impact having properly accessible podiatry services would have on the demands on the health service. More than 3,000 people in the midlands come under the diabetic programme requiring access to podiatry care. Athlone Institute of Technology offers a multidisciplinary health professional environment for general and psychiatric nurse training. The institute offers courses for dental nurses and pharmacy technicians. It has research staff working at doctoral level in pharmacology, chemistry, molecular biology, tissue engineering, nursing toxicology, sterilisation technologies, environmental science, nursing software and materials. It has the critical mass, the academic support and the demands for these courses. It does not, however, have the support of the universities or the major teaching hospitals. As a result its podiatry school is slowly being undermined.

Athlone, which is centrally located, is ideal for the national treatment of podiatry patients. This is the opportunity for the Government to show if it is serious about decentralisation and giving the opportunity for the institutes of technology to develop and be innovative. The Government has already turned its back on Athlone Institute of Technology with its decision on the location of the National Institute of Bioprocessing, Research and Training. Although a commitment to locate it in Athlone was given by IDA Ireland, the Government decided to alter it. Although the school of podiatry was encouraged and promoted by the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children during a visit to the institute, it is now being undermined and the centre will have to be based in Dublin.

Each year 90 podiatrists graduate in Scotland with its population of approximately 5 million people. Ireland, with a population of 4.2 million people, does not train any podiatrists. Even though the demand exists, only 30% of it is being met. It is unacceptable that we will have to wait another six years before there will be home-trained podiatrists. I ask the Minister of State to utilise the opportunity afforded by Athlone Institute of Technology.

The institutes of technology must be complimented on the practical training of their students. Having worked with people trained in the institutes of technology, I admit their hands-on training in the sciences was far better than that which I received at university. Research and development needs more funding, particularly in the agrifood sector. It is disappointing the investment is not being made. The agrifood sector accounts for €7 billion per annum, yet only 4% of the research and development budget will be spent on it. No funding allocation for research and development was announced when the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, published the Agrivision 2015 report. It shows a lack of interest in developing the agrifood sector, a key indigenous sector in the economy.

I accept foreign direct investment is necessary for the economy. The institutes of technology have been crucial in bringing green field investment. Meanwhile, the indigenous agrifood sector has not developed. A corporate decision made in the United States could result in a company relocating to India or another part of Asia. Indigenous companies, on the other hand, are tied into the country, especially those in the agrifood sector. The sector's development cannot be ignored. An EU report indicates that in Ireland research and development spending as a proportion of GDP fell between 1998 and 2004. This coupled with the ESRI's warning on Ireland's export market must lead to a complete audit by Enterprise Ireland of the research and development needs of the food and drink industry. The recently released ESRI report attempted to set off the alarm bells on the issue of Ireland's export market. It pointed out that Irish exports grew by only 1.8% last year, at a time when global exports are growing at more than 6% per annum. The investment has simply not taken place. Agrifood exports only grew by 0.7% last year. As we continue to ignore the development of our agrifood capabilities, we will not have the competitive agrifood sector that can meet consumers' demands for convenience and prepared foods. I hope the Government will reassess its decision on research and development in the agrifood sector. Such research and development can be carried out by the institutes of technology many of which already work with small indigenous companies.

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