Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Donogh O'Malley would not have attacked DEIS schools and he would not have attacked those seeking to improve their skills. Let us look at the people who use PLC courses. They are people who are taking a second chance - people who may have been out of employment for some time and have decided to follow all the advice, to improve their skills and gain new ones and see where the demand is. The Minister represents a constituency that is a model in terms of further education.

Ballyfermot Senior College is a model for the further education sector. Its work is amazing and replicated in Castlebar and Galway in the Minister of State's constituency. We are undermining the ability of the unemployed to access second chance education courses by imposing this cut. We are saying they should be given a second chance, but we are cutting them off at the legs when they attempt to take that opportunity.

I have listened to all the praise for the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton - give me a break. If she was still in opposition and my party introduced this cut - something we would not have done - she would be heard from Malin Head to Mizen Head. She says she will provide extra places, but last year the number of extra places amounted to just over 5,000 at a time when 515,000 people were unemployed. The one sector in a position to respond will face cuts. Surely the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, could have co-ordinated a response with the Minister for Social Protection. They could have decided that this was the sector producing the goods and which was flexible. It does not take 20 years to approve and design a course, by which time it is irrelevant. Surely between the two Departments a solution could be found for the sector that would deliver. That no places will be cut is a falsehood because we all know that many colleges are over quota because they do not want to turn people away who want to avail of the opportunities provided by PLC courses. The skills and ability of local management are to be cut.

I refer to the variety of courses available which include cloud computing, ethical hacking - an interesting course, computer network infrastructure support, computer network management and smart technology application development. These are things which control our lives. The development of applications - app development - is an area in which money is to be made on a large scale. One does not need big IDA backup to set up an app development business. It does not require large factory space. People have ideas for application development. I would never be able to do it, but those with the ideas want to learn the skills, but we are taking that chance away from them. This week another traditional retail icon has gone to the wall. These courses are designed to upskill retail staff in order that they can provide a better service for the customer. That opportunity will be cut, which does not make sense.

I am not making a political point, but I note that the Government system operates in silos, so to speak. For example, a decision taken in the Department of Education and Skills will have consequences for the Department of Social Protection because more people will be driven towards social welfare schemes. We need to abolish the silo mentality. The Department of Education and Skills should have decided to work in partnership with the Department of Social Protection. The cost will be €90 million and opportunities will be lost. That €90 million will now be spent by the Department of Social Protection because people who had been willing to return to education will be forced to apply for jobseeker's allowance.

There is a chorus about 14 wasted years, but it seems to be a case of shooting the messenger. I agree with Deputy Jim Daly - education is opportunity. It is the key which every four year-old child is given when he or she starts school. We need to ensure every person is given that key and can use it to the best of his or her ability. However, some fall between the cracks for various reasons. PLC courses give such persons a second chance at a time when they may be in a better position to access education. It demonstrates to the business and industry sectors that the education system can be responsive, yet the cuts are to proceed. I presume from the tenor of the contributions of Labour Party Members that on this occasion, unlike last year, there is no cabal led by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte to beat up the Minister for Education and Skills on this issue. We are not showboating on this side of the House; we do not have time to showboat, rather we are highlighting a very serious issue which will be slow burning because the cuts will be made in drips and drabs. They will not be reported in TheIrish Timesor the Irish Independentand Joe Duffy will not be talking about them. As a result of these cuts, right around the country potentially hundreds of people will have a future denied to them. They had decided to pursue a course and the PLC sector fitted their needs and abilities. Many of those who use the PLC sector may have had bad experiences in the education sector and the PLC sector was designed to facilitate them to return to upskill to gain employment, yet this sector has been targeted for the biggest cut.

I congratulate the Minister who did well in protecting his budget. However, he is no Donogh O'Malley and never will be. Donogh O'Malley would not have stood over the mess that is SUSI.

Deputy Eamonn Maloney referred to discrimination. The Minister specifically discriminated against rural schools last year when they were chosen as the target for a very specific cut in the pupil-teacher ratio to be made over three years. That is discrimination and he would have tried to get away with it had it not been for Labour Party backbenchers and Fianna Fáil. He attempted to completely undermine the DEIS system. I must check out his amazing initiative on literacy. During the period of 14 years to which Members opposite refer school completion rates rose to record levels because of the investment at primary and secondary level; capital investment was made in all aspects of the education system during that period.

This cut of €90 million will not be reversed, but we will continue to highlight it. The Government is digging in on the issue, but backbenchers had their Weetabix this morning, judging from the tenor of the contributions made. If there is an underspend in the Department at the end of the year, which is possible, this is the sector which needs to get the money. I ask the Minister to look after a sector which has provided so many niche opportunities. I ask him to ensure any unpent moneys will be allocated to this sector in order to alleviated the effects of the cuts to be made. I am disappointed Deputy Damien English portrayed the effect as being having two extra participants in a PLC course. He is a very genuine politician, but if that is the level of understanding on the Government side of the House of the effects of the cuts, we have a far bigger problem in understanding the importance of skills training.

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