Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on the impact of the cuts to the further education and training sector resulting from budget 2013. I wholly support my colleague, Deputy McConalogue's motion calling on the Government to reverse them. These cuts represent an attack on some of the most vulnerable in society - the unemployed, who are often highly qualified, and disadvantaged learners who are currently completing such courses in order to re-enter the labour market.

The Government is attacking these vulnerable people on two fronts. First, it is reducing the financial means for those wishing to attend and avail of further education courses and simply putting them out of their reach. However, it is also attacking further education and PLC providers by increasing the pupil-teacher ratio, which will in effect cut the number of courses on offer, the quality of courses provided and the level of staff in the sector. Dublin and Cork will bear a disproportionate amount of pain in these cuts to the further education and training sector.

It is unquestionable that Ireland is experiencing an unemployment crisis despite our much-heralded progress in meeting our targets in various troika progress reports. Unemployment is currently at 14.6% and, more worrying, youth unemployment is close to 30%. One of the most at-risk groups which requires urgent intervention is young people who are not in employment, education or training, commonly referred to as NEETs. This group is detached from the labour market and it is access to quality further education and training that will help them to enter the labour market. This is why cuts to further education and post-leaving certificate providers is such a short-sighted and unjustified move by the Government, and will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in our society.

The true scale of the unemployment crisis continues to be hidden by the large number of people emigrating from the country. Emigration among Irish nationals has continued to rise sharply to 40,200 in the year prior to April 2011, which was nearly 13,000 more than in the same period in 2010. Some 36,200 non-nationals also left the country during the same period. Ireland's emigration rate is the highest in the EU and almost double that of the country with the second highest rate.

Emigration should not be a Government policy for tackling the unemployment crisis. The provision of courses which fill labour market requirements in Ireland needs to be supported and, thus, funding for the further education and training sector should be ring-fenced from cuts. It can be done. Fianna Fáil ring-fenced the education budget in its alternative budget, which was fully costed. We need to enable our unemployed to up-skill and avail of the employment opportunities that are available here, without having to resort to emigration in order to seek employment on distant shores. Emigration is a plight which has touched every family. It was unbelievable over Christmas to meet so many of my classmates who are now working abroad, not out of choice but out of necessity.

The Teachers Union of Ireland has correctly criticised cuts to the further education and training sector. The increase in the pupil-teacher ratio will have negative implications for further education and PLC providers. The pupil-teacher ratio will rise from 17:1 to 19:1 and the Government is ignoring the fact those pupils coming from a disadvantaged background may require additional education supports. In defending the increase, the Minister is not making a fair comparison with the second level student-teacher ratio. PLC providers also fulfil a role for their pupils left vacant by second level institutions.

This is not just a question over class size and will not simply result in bigger classes, but will lead to the loss of 200 whole-time equivalent teaching posts and could realistically result in the loss of up to 500 non-permanent part-time posts. In my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, this will lead to reduction of four teachers - three in Longford and one in Westmeath, according to TUI statistics. Those who will lose their jobs are not permanent teaching staff but teachers who have been brought in on a temporary or fixed-term basis. These teachers usually possess specialised knowledge and teach modules or courses geared towards industry requirements that permanent teachers may not have the expertise to teach.

For example, a college on the east coast offering a pharmaceutical course consisting of seven modules engages a qualified pharmacist who has been employed to teach a specialised module. That teacher will lose their job under these cuts. This module is a critical part of the course and serious questions have now to be asked over the future viability of the course.

The further education and training sector has already borne the brunt of education cuts. While the number of places in further education and training is capped at 30,000, it is widely acknowledged that some 38,000 are attending such courses at present. These course providers accept that, even though the courses are full, they simply do not wish to turn away marginalised people.

These cuts also raise questions over equity and fairness in Irish society. The Government is simply not tackling the issue of educational disadvantage in Ireland and has comprehensively failed to put this issue at the heart of Ireland's education policy. Budget 2013 represents an attack on the most marginalised and vulnerable in our society - the jobless, the unemployed and those dependent on welfare. These people are making every effort to find employment and many have started further education and training courses in order to improve their employment prospects. These cuts have placed them in an impossible position. The Government has reduced training allowances for those in further education by some €10 million. Furthermore, from January 2013, the €300 back to education allowance will be discontinued for new and existing participants. This will have a direct impact on the education opportunities for this section of the population.

The decision to reduce welfare allowances simply does not make sense at a time when so many young people are unemployed or emigrating. We should be encouraging people to upskill or reskill, not putting financial obstacles in their way. It is often noted that governments do not create jobs but that they create the conditions for jobs.

How does cutting further education and training courses help our unemployed, young and mature, get back into the labour market? These courses play a key role in improving skills and providing new skills for these people in order that they can avail of the opportunities that are available in the labour market in Ireland - for example, in the ICT sector. In its national plan for tackling youth unemployment, which was published last year, Fianna Fáil found that in December 2011, there were approximately 1,800 vacancies in the ICT sector in Ireland. Of the 4,000 IT jobs announced during 2011, one thousand were filled by workers recruited from abroad because the necessary skills were not available here in Ireland. The further education and training sector can play a key role in providing courses for unemployed people which give a skills base tailored towards industry needs. We have heard some fine talk about the recent success of foreign direct investment during this Government's term of office. However, the Government is not publicising the fact that so many of these jobs are later filled by those recruited from abroad. For example, Louise Phelan, the head of PayPal in Ireland, pointed out in an interview that half of the PayPal workforce of 1,600 in Ireland consisted of people recruited from abroad because the skill set simply was not available in Ireland.

I appeal to the Minister to rethink these short-sighted, callous cuts and to utilise our colleges of further education and PLC courses to ensure that we improve skills and create the skill sets necessary for the economy and society in which we live. In conclusion, I support the motion of my colleague Deputy McConalogue and ask that the Government rethink these short-sighted cuts.

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