Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I strongly support this amendment. Like Deputy Enright I am caught by the vagaries of some of these amendments and how one gets them through. That said, one of the elements of this I am particularly exercised by is public transport. I would love to see CIE buses coming through the Cooley peninsula, in my constituency, again. There would be queer demand on cameras to photograph them, because they are an endangered species. To see that level of public transport, quite apart from the courses they would bring people to, would be terrific, and I certainly hope this amendment is accepted.

On the issue of course content, I do not know whether the spokespersons come from the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment or the Department of Education and Science, or perhaps both, but the relevant people should be asked to brainstorm this area and make a collective contribution as regards the types of constructive courses on offer. I do not want to be over critical of FÁS, because generally speaking it does a good job, but some of those courses are long past their sell-by date and there is need for a whole new approach to the type and quality being delivered. I hope some consideration will be given to this and I fully support this amendment because it moves us in that direction.

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