Dáil debates

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed)

 

11:40 am

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This legislation is the transforming Bill and I understand why it took so long to get to this Stage. When the SOLAS Bill comes before the House, it will pass very quickly because most of the groundwork will have been done in this Bill.

Both items of legislation are important because they come at a time when the State faces a period of challenging economic reality. Dealing with such reforming legislation tends to make people nervous. What is proposed goes far beyond what is proposed in most legislation. This concerns transforming an entire system and the deliberations on Committee Stage can help to alleviate concerns.

Our society must do more to attract the type of industry to help generate the economic growth needed to retain our economic sovereignty. It will also help to develop our home-grown industry.

ETBs will have a key role in identifying, prioritising and improving education and training standards which are central to our economic recovery. I agree with the Minister that it is important we work with the major stakeholders to put in place a solid foundation from which to advance the training, education and skills of our citizens.

This is even more important at a time when millions of euro are being cut from our education budget. Times like these focus minds. We need a greater vision in identifying and implementing savings across the education sector. We know the forthcoming budget will make further reductions of €77 million on top of the multi-annual cuts announced last year. While we will disagree as to where those savings should be made and we will have that debate when we deal with the budget, we will agree on the need to achieve value for money. Efficiencies that improve and do not damage front-line services should be put in place. We would support any measure to do that. Protecting front-line services and the quality of our education system must be a priority.

In that regard, the ETBs will come into their own. They can ensure greater co-operation between a range of service providers within their regions, at least to identify possible savings if not actively help reduce the cost of running schools. That view is shared by the Irish Vocational Education Association, IVEA. At the IVEA annual conference, Mr. Michael Moriarty, general secretary of the association, said that in the face of the reduction in capitation grants for primary schools, the potential existed to enhance the range of benefits that would be seen under the ETBs. He suggested that ETBs could support stand-alone management in schools with regard to building projects and to getting better deals from service providers. The Minister outlined some of the cost-saving potential for work schemes. These measures all have the potential to reduce the cost of education. These savings must be reinvested in the education system. They must not go towards paying bank debt.

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