Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

-----most of the workers in this State are employed by small businesses. The education system, in particular at second level, should be designed to encourage such students. I know some changes are being implemented and I welcome those positive changes.

I fully support rationalisation because there must be efficiencies. However, I hope the notion of rationalisation is not used as a cover by some of my colleagues in the Labour Party for the cutting of education services. There is plenty of room for reform and for efficiencies. We want value for money in the education sector but we cannot drain the blood out of the system, which provides an excellent service to many people.

I refer to the potential for the provision of English language education. We must facilitate international students to come to study here and, in particular, students from China. I have been in contact with a number of ambassadors who have said they want to send more students to Ireland to learn English. This is a very important sector. The Bill sets out the overall structure of the amalgamated organisations and provides for functions in the areas of the maintenance and implementation of the National Framework of Qualifications and external quality assurance of educational providers. We must ensure that we get quality standards in that regard.

Thousands of young second level students want to get involved in the education sector. I want to ensure that these educational providers of the future are given maximum support. I wonder at times whether reducing their salaries will seriously damage the future of the education sector. We must value education because it represents the potential for the future.

The Bill also deals with the recognition of Irish awards internationally as well as the recognition of foreign awards here. In addition, the legislation will set standards of access to educational training programmes, as well as the transfer and progression between such programmes. It also sets standards for awards, validation programmes for educational training, and the regulation of providers of education services to international students.

There is massive potential to develop the sector's economic value for the State. In this time of crisis, the State needs as much money as it can get. Foreign students come here to learn English and other subjects, as well as paying for accommodation and spending money in the economy generally. All of this makes a great contribution to the economy. The Government should not close its mind to the options.

I recently met the Iranian ambassador who was annoyed, upset and disappointed by the closure of the Irish embassy in Teheran. He said that Iran did approximately €80 million worth of trade with this country. He also said he wanted to send Iranian students to Dublin to learn English. The Minister should open his eyes to the potential for such economic and educational developments.

The Bill's provisions cover a number of education and training providers such as existing universities and their link providers, including the colleges of education. Radical changes are needed in our universities and we must all up our game in this regard. I referred earlier to the urgent need for radical reform in the primary and secondary sectors, but the bottom line is to ensure high standards and good practice.

As regards the university sector, we must wake up to the real world and ensure that we have productivity, efficiency and reform. The Bill also covers the National University of Ireland and its recognised colleges, as well as new universities which can be established under section 9 of the Universities Act 1997, although there are none such at present. The legislation refers to other providers with awarding powers, including the Dublin Institute of Technology and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

I commend the DIT and other institutes of technology on the major contribution they have made to this country. Top class students are graduating from those institutes, but we must also be vigilant about maintaining their standards and quality.

The Bill refers to providers whose programmes are validated by VECs, FÁS and the institutes of technology which have delegated authority to make awards. Others, including English language providers, have applied to be granted the quality mark provision of education to international learners.

As regards the broader debate on education, we must ensure that stakeholders are protected, guided and reformed in a positive and constructive manner. We must also be vigilant about working conditions, including pensions.

A number of Deputies have referred to standards, including those in teacher training colleges. We should not be afraid to examine this matter because good, solid, basic academic qualifications are required. We must also ensure that the right people go into the right educational jobs. People can have many CAO points from their leaving certificate examinations, but it does not necessarily make them good teachers suitable to work with young children in disadvantaged areas. Teachers must have good communication skills and a positive attitude towards the day job. It may be old-fashioned to say so, but teaching was always like that for me. Many years ago, it used to be said that we got a call to training. At that time it was like winning an All Ireland if one got a call to teacher training. It was a big honour for a family. I remember my late father cycling up to the post office saying: "My son got a call to training." At that time it was a very honourable thing. As well as getting the academic qualifications, we were hauled into St. Patrick's College in Drumcondra to be interviewed by psychologists and educationalists. We had to do interviews to see if we would be suitable to work with young children. We need to be creative about that because the old stuff that went on was very positive.

When push came to shove in the recent debate, the Minister saw examples of good practice in many DEIS schools. They upped their game, increased productivity and were examples of good practice. Such good practice could be transferred to some of the so-called mainstream or very exclusive schools. Standards and good practice are very important.

We should not be afraid to examine education systems around the world that have high standards. I know about this from direct experience. It may not be politically correct to say so at the moment, but when I was in Cuba a couple of years ago I visited primary and secondary schools with top quality standards of service and education. The Cubans had two things in their revolution which I strongly support - education and health.

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