Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Fáiltím roimh an deis labhairt ar an t-ábhar seo. The opportunity to speak on education and related issues is always welcome because the value of education can never be overstated. Increasingly, with the passage of time, we see the many highs and lows in other different sectors and areas of society and the economy and we realise the staying power of education and the productive benefit it has for all who are fortunate enough to avail of it. Therefore, any debate on this subject is important. There are many students in the House today listening to the debate so it is important to go to basics and not to get too tied up in the political angle. If we stand back and look at our economy most of us will agree with the diagnosis. The single greatest threat to the next generation, to its future and well-being, is unemployment. Everybody in this House will recognise and accept that. Where we differ is in the prescription and how to deal with it.

This motion argues that the pupil-teacher ratio should have been maintained in post leaving certificate courses. The reality is that €90 million was the agreed figure for this. Every Member is the House will understand and appreciate that this figure had to be reduced in the education budget because we are living in very different times. I do not agree with borrowing more and more money which ultimately will go onto the shoulders of the next generation - the people in the Gallery, my children at home and the children of the next generation will have to pay for it. To continue with the status quo is not an option for us. Nobody likes change and politicians live by that weakness in society, hopping on horseback whenever the opportunity arises. People do not like change, they will object and politicians are the cheerleaders in this regard, depending on whether they have the responsibility of governance or the luxury of opposition. We are all guilty of the same trait; that is a fact. I believe that in trying to save €90 million, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, made the right decision. This is the lesser of the evils. Politics is about options and tough, difficult choices but, most important, it is about the right choices. As a former educationalist and as a parent of young children going to school, I consider this change far preferable than to have the pupil-teacher ratio affected or levelled off in primary or secondary schools. A parallel cannot be drawn between the PLC courses, which involve motivated adult learners, and secondary schools.

In almost every education debate in which I have spoken in this House, I welcomed above and beyond all else that the Minister and his Minister of State were not forced or, more important, did not choose, to cut resources to special needs pupils and those with learning difficulties and challenges. For me, that is always a top priority and must be protected - everything else is on the table. I cannot countenance the other situation, having seen in my career in the education system the way these resources have evolved and the impact they have had on the needs of children with special learning challenges. I am delighted to welcome another budget which has protected the number of resource teachers and SNAs in the system.

I refer again to change, which is necessary. We must look at the solutions and prescriptions we are doling out. I am involved in a jobs initiative in west Cork along with some of the leading employers in the west Cork region. We meet once a month with a view to trying to diagnose a solution for the problem of unemployment and there is no doubt that education plays a key role here. I spent the morning in committee where the Bill on education and training boards is on Committee Stage. Many initiatives, such as SOLAS and ETBs and other new developments, are being taken by the Department of Education and Skills and I welcome every one of them. We must be more creative in how we upskill. The big challenge for us is to identify the shortage of skills. One can consider an initiative such as CoderDojo which is strongly supported by the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon. I look forward to joining the Clonakilty group on Friday with my children. That initiative cost absolutely nothing but it recognised a flaw in our current education system and has gone about addressing it on a completely cost-neutral basis. This is the kind of thinking in which we must engage as legislators. It is just one initiative albeit an extremely powerful one. We are wasting time talking in this Private Members' debate which, let us be honest, is only showboating. It would have been far superior if we had a more productive, progressive and constructive conversation about the real challenges in addressing the unemployment crisis in this country.

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