Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to make a contribution to the debate on this important motion. I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, on his work in highlighting the attack the Government has made on an education sector that has proved to be very successful in the past decade and needs additional support because of its success with the increasing numbers attending further education colleges. I am familiar with the sector because I was the first chairman of the board of management of Cavan Institute. In the relatively small town of Cavan the institute has 1,300 day pupils and 500 night pupils enrolled. It will face a reduction of at least eight teachers if the cuts are introduced.

The Teachers Union of Ireland has issued clear statements on the regressive steps taken in the budget that will affect this sector. Any of us who has attended graduation ceremonies at a further education institute will have seen the pride of the students, with their families, having attained a further education qualification. One of the greatest success stories in the past decade about which we seldom hear is the significant increase in participation in higher level education. By 2009, Ireland had achieved the highest participation rate in tertiary education in the European Union. This is a statistic about which current Government members never speak. One of the important ingredients was the progression of students through the further education sector. I have seen people from homes where there was no interest in education get a chance to attend Cavan Institute to pursue a FETAC or other approved course. Many of them went on to attend an institute of technology or a university to achieve a third level qualification. Not only did many of them attain a primary degree but they also went on conduct postgraduate research.

It is absolutely reprehensible that the Government has attacked this sector. The Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, has claimed this is the first time the further education sector has been given its own identity. It is right that it is be given its own identity but one could not do so if it were not for its success and high participation rates. While we welcome the new proposals for the new structures of the further education sector, the amalgamation of vocational education committees and the establishment of SOLAS, Seirbhísí Oideachais Leanunaigh agus Scileanna, this work was begun before March 2011 when the Government took office. I hope the new structures will be more successful than those put in place by the Government to administer the higher education grants system. I also hope the necessary preparatory work is done to ensure the new systems will work and that we will not have the dreadful failures experienced in the case of SUSI, Student Universal Support Ireland. It is deplorable that further education and Youthreach programmes are under attack. All Members know the importance of these programmes to young people who have not taken a traditional route in the education system to have a second chance to obtain educational qualifications.

See this speech in context