Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Technical Group for allocating some of its speaking time to me. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon. We were very glad when he visited County Kerry a number of months ago to attend the launch of an informative and comprehensive booklet outlining the various courses and further educational opportunities that are available for people who find themselves in need of upskilling and further training.

In the world as it is today education is no longer confined to a specified period of a person's life. Everybody is obliged to follow a lifelong training curve. The Minister said as much in his speech in Kerry that day. He correctly pointed out that everything has changed completely since a number of years ago, when people went to national school, then secondary school and, if they were fortunate, on to university, and that was it. Now, however, people must continuously upskill. There are no jobs for life anymore. It is a very fortunate person who would find themselves leaving college, getting a job and retiring from that job after 30 or 35 years. Unfortunately, those jobs are no longer available.

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill. One could say that SOLAS, the body being established by the Bill, is FÁS by another name. I hope it will be beneficial. Another change is the 16 education boards which will replace the 34 vocational education committees, VECs. The VEC structure served this country very well over the years. I had the utmost respect for the individuals, be they teachers, principals, vice-principals, politicians and county councillors, who served on those VECs and did great work. Indeed, I remember many of the politicians in Kerry who worked on the committees. They did great work and were proud of that work. They were also proud of their role and function in the VECs.

When discussing SOLAS and FÁS it should be recognised that FÁS did a great deal of good work. Unfortunately, its good work was sullied by the actions of a few. However, we should not throw the baby out with the bath water and paint everybody in FÁS with the same brush. I encountered great individuals who worked at all levels of FÁS. When I consider the group schemes set up throughout the country by FÁS, which provided thousands of days of work and training, and the very valuable function FÁS performed, I hate to think that people would consider that FÁS was all bad. That was not the case, and the Minister and the Government know it. A small number of people gave it a bad name.

When discussing the establishment of a new entity such as SOLAS we should bear in mind that some decisions taken by this Government have not worked out. One example is the centralised system for awarding third level education grants, Student Universal Support Ireland or SUSI, which was an absolute disaster. It is a disaster to this day. It is almost March but even this morning I was still dealing with students who have not received their grants. That is totally unacceptable and wrong. Many of the young people affected wanted to pull out of their courses and I had an awful job persuading them to stay. Thankfully, some of the colleges worked with us. They knew the money would be paid and that the applications would be processed in due course. However, it is not acceptable, right or proper that it is almost March and people are still waiting for education grants. Every Member of the Oireachtas and county councillor has been inundated with representations from people who are in this difficulty.

The same has happened with the centralisation of driving licences. That was introduced a few weeks ago and it is already chaos with people unable to get their driving licences processed. We had the same experience with the processing of medical cards. Unfortunately, the Government's track record with centralisation and change has not been good to date. However, that does not prevent me stating that I wish this legislation well. I hope it will work.

Over the years I, like many other Members of the House, have had the pleasure and privilege of attending Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, award ceremonies. The individuals receiving their awards were generally accompanied by members of their family and extended family. It could be their parents or their children. It was always a proud and happy occasion to see these people having their educational and training efforts recognised and rewarded. I always enjoyed getting an invitation to those events because I knew it would be a happy and joyous occasion. I hope that will continue.

As every person knows, particularly if they have a family, no two children or people are the same. Everybody has their own special skills set and abilities. If one is dealing with somebody who has an intellectual disability, for example, they might have some other great abilities and a fully able person might be unable to keep up with them. I have always seen that in life. If a person is lacking something in one way, they more than make up for it in another. When it comes to education and training we are duty bound to ensure that systems will be put in place to nurture each young person being educated and to make the most of their abilities. I never look at a person and wonder what is holding them back, I always look at the good points that will help them move forward. Thankfully, there is a role and function for everybody in the world.

I am very proud that under this Government and previous Governments the way was opened for people with disabilities to secure gainful employment. Indeed, in some large companies and in local authorities there is a standard quota whereby they must try to employ a certain number of people who have disabilities. Wherever one meets people with disabilities who are working, one finds they perform their functions in an excellent manner. They bring their own special skills set to the job. It is only right and proper that they be given every possible opportunity.

I am very proud of the Institute of Technology Tralee. It is a vital facility in our county and I hope it goes from success to success. Not only does it fulfil a role in education, it is also an important financial asset for the county. I hope it will continue to grow.

Thanks to solid investment over the years and to our teachers in the national and secondary schools and in the colleges the standard of education is increasing all the time. Our young people deserve that.

When people are starting out we must ensure that they have the best education and training possible, whether they are intending to work here or go abroad.

I am concerned to ensure that in the context of training we engage with employers. I have listened to the Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, speak in public since his appointment and he has touched on this issue many times. We must ask what skills employers here need people to have. We have no business training people to be something for which there is no demand. It is important to consider our small employers and to ask what they need from the workforce and what training they want people to have. The Department and SOLAS will have to work together to ensure we establish that connectivity between employers, who will create more employment, and the workforce, who want to obtain gainful employment and to be trained in the proper skills to be of value to an employer. It is working together as a team that enables everyone to be successful. An employee will have a good job to keep him and his family, or her and her family, and the employer will be able to get the most out of the workforce. Not so many years ago, all a person needed to do was to go to secondary school and do the group certificate - as it was then - before going to AnCo for a couple of years to be trained as a fitter or in another trade. Those people went on to work in State bodies. There were plenty of jobs for young people with a minimal education at one stage, but now things are completely different. No person can have enough education now. Further training and skills are of vital importance to the young people who have had to go abroad. I hope many of them will be able to return when our economy is on the rise. I hope they left here with sufficient training and skills to find gainful work internationally. The world is a small place now and we hope they will come back.

When we consider the future direction of our training sector, we must consider the core industries of agriculture and tourism. Given the size of the world population, there is a massive market for good-quality food, which is one thing we have in Ireland. The horsemeat scandal has done nothing to dent our reputation; it has proved that we have the necessary checks, measures and accountability in place, as demonstrated by the fact that it was here the problem was first discovered. It went on to become a Europe-wide and worldwide problem. We can be proud that it was the checks put in place here by the relevant Departments and State agencies that ensured the problem was detected.

In the context of farming and the agrifood sector, we must consider the agricultural colleges and the excellent work they do to train young farmers. It saddened me during the boom that many agricultural colleges faced closure as so few young farmers wanted to be trained in a sector in which they saw no future. Thankfully, the colleges are now operating at 100% capacity and cannot cater for the number of students who want to attend them. It proves that there are young people who want to stay in Ireland, take over family farms and obtain the required education, skills and qualifications to allow them to be successful, forward-thinking farmers. Like every other sector, farming has changed enormously over the last number of years. A great degree of expertise is now required of farmers in animal husbandry, tillage and dairying. Things are completely different from the way they were ten or 20 years ago. I hope future investments will be made in the training of our young farmers, ensuring that they are able to fulfil the massive potential of the sector and the demand for good-quality food and food products internationally. Irish farming has an excellent reputation. It is a sector we can enhance and expand manyfold in the years ahead.

It is vital that every opportunity be taken to ensure that young people are trained to work in every aspect of the tourism sector. There is great potential for further growth in tourism. Recent visitor figures indicate there has been significant growth in the numbers coming to Ireland, particularly from North America, whose previously high visitor numbers had dwindled in recent years. I hope to see growth in the sector again. We must ensure that when people come to Ireland, there are people working in the sector. I have the utmost respect for people working in tourism, whether it is front-line staff who meet tourists when they arrive at hotels or those working in kitchens to do the washing up. Every person plays a vital role in a very important sector. We will rely on tourism, along with farming, to help us in the years ahead.

Funding must go in the right direction. We must ensure there is no waste. While I do not think the Minister will allow that to happen, I must take the opportunity to discuss the Government's track record. When it came into office, a great deal of play was made about appointments to State boards. Unfortunately, it was recently proven by journalists who did their homework that the only qualification one has needed in the last two years to get on a State board was membership of either Fine Gael or the Labour Party.

See this speech in context