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

I listened to the debate for most of the day yesterday on the monitor in my office. It is clear many Government Deputies believe many of the measures contained in the Finance Bill will help get people back to work and stimulate the economy. A number of measures were announced which the Government feels will certainly stimulate the construction section of the labour force and will reinvigorate local economies through extending the employment incentive scheme. While the Bill contains some good elements, it will not come as a surprise that we do not believe the measures contained in it will stimulate the economy or get people back to work. Many of the measures fall very far short of what is required.

Despite these differences, something all Deputies will agree on is the role education can play in regaining our economic sovereignty and the role it will play in ensuring we have a highly skilled and adaptable workforce to meet challenges in the coming years. It is a well-known fact that a well-funded education system is necessary if we are to make the transition from recession to economic recovery. We also know that investing in education from the early years through to higher education creates the type of workforce which can change and adapt to labour conditions. This would mean that when we enter recession we have a very adaptable workforce and have in place training programmes and the further education systems required to meet the changing demands which industry puts on us.

If we look at some of the recent reports which have been published we can measure how well we are achieving this. The 2010 OECD Education at a Glance report examined what countries spend on education. It also examined how various education systems operate in various member states. It emphasised the importance of education not only to the individuals but to society in general and showed that a well-funded education system allows people to reach their potential and therefore allows society to deal better with recession. While the report did not state anything that was not already obvious to us as we all know well-funded education is essential, it highlighted a number of factors with regard to Ireland's performance in education and higher learning. It found the education spend in this State was the fourth lowest among the 31 OECD countries at approximately 4.7% of GDP. This low level of investment in education has resulted in our schools being underfunded and many of our universities struggling. It has also resulted in above average class sizes and a downturn in literacy and numeracy levels. Although the report was published in 2010 the data was collected in 2007 just as the so-called Celtic tiger was coming to an end. Since then we have had six more austerity budgets which have diminished spending on education even further.

The way the Government seeks to deal with the economic crisis and the resulting economic hardship being imposed on our citizens is to impose even harsher austerity and cutbacks on social spending which strike hardest of the most vulnerable in society. It also deepens social inequalities. Not only is the Government failing to stimulate the Irish economy, it is also entrenching the type of policies which further deepen the recession. I do not know whether the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, read our pre-budget submission, but if he has not he should do so because we made a number of proposals underpinned by very progressive taxation measures which would, if implemented and if we were in government, allow us to ring-fence the education budget this year. We would have made no cuts to the education budget or to the budgets of other priority Departments which are required to stimulate the economy. We proposed this because international best evidence proves ring-fencing and, where possible even in times of recession, increasing education budgets is the way to go.

On the collapse of the old Soviet Union, Finland's economy was in recession and it responded by prioritising and increasing spending on education. It invested in its education system, which is now seen as one of the more progressive in the world. Finland has a very solid economy and well-funded progressive measures which nurture learning from a very early age and carry through this learning process to higher education. It has a very adaptable workforce which is highly educated and skilled and can meet challenging demands such as the recession and economic crisis which has beset Europe. This is not just confined to Finland. Countries such as Norway and Sweden adopted very similar measures. It is something we need to do.

Looking much closer to home, because some people will argue the Nordic model would not suit this State, the findings of a recent study of primary school pupils in the Six Counties showed they perform better in reading and writing than pupils in any other English-speaking country in the world. This is a remarkable achievement considering the constraints imposed on the Executive there with regard to its finances and the receipt of a block grant. The Northern Ireland Minister of Education - a member of Sinn Féin - in association with the Executive and with cross-party support prioritised spending on education. Not only has it been prioritised but despite the reduction in block grants, a decision was made to increase spending on education in the Six Counties and they are now reaping the benefits, as the report shows. Two other studies verified the performance of the education sector there. The first was the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, TIMSS, and the second is the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. They show the increased investment since 1997 in education is now paying dividends. We need to replicate this.

We must examine what we are doing in this State. For example, the Minister of State knows the importance of small and medium enterprises and the challenges they are facing. Some of the recent announcements of cuts in further and higher education colleges will have a significant impact in that respect. We need to start prioritising. It is not solely the responsibility of the Minister for Education and Skills; there must be a collective Cabinet decision to prioritise spending on education.

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