Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

The programme for Government outlines the Government's priorities over the next five years. It has a strong focus on education and skills and sets an ambitious work programme for me and my Department. My core fundamental priority across all areas of education, from early childhood education to training and higher education, is to improve the education outcomes for all our students. This will have to be delivered while recognising the economic reality that the last Government effectively placed this country into receivership, and that we are not in full control of our economic affairs as a nation. It is essential for us as a country, for our economic future and for the life choices of individuals that we change what we do to get radically better quality outcomes for the resources deployed. This is the challenge facing the education sector and me as Minister.

While it is my intention to make progress across the range of Government programme commitments there are a number of specific issues that I wish to see advanced in the short term. Addressing effectively the issues affecting key skills of literacy and numeracy is an essential core of delivering higher quality outcomes and is a major element of our Government programme. It will be a priority in the coming three months.

As part of our overall Government approach to jobs and the prioritising of this in the coming three months, I will have a significant input regarding training and education places and in considering schools capital investment. I also envisage initiating the preparation of a five year plan for educational infrastructure at primary and second level having regard to demographic demands and the need to upgrade existing stock. As part of this work, progress will be made on the inventory of school accommodation. I have already publicly stated my commitment to setting up a forum on patronage and pluralism which will report before the end of the year.

Another key area where I expect progress to be made is in the rationalisation of the vocational education committees, and specifically to determine in the coming months the headquarters locations where there are mergers, the titles of the new entities and the changes needed regarding the composition of each VEC. I will also proceed with the amalgamation of the qualifications bodies – the NQAI, HETAC and FETAC.

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