Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute, albeit briefly, to the debate on this important issue. For me, education is far more than children in classrooms. It is about broadening minds, using the skills of our community and assets of our State to enhance and consolidate each young person's own wish to achieve in life.

It is about helping young people to achieve their potential.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan where I requested an opportunity to study the country's educational system. I was so impressed by the attitude to education I found there that I initiated a cultural exchange. Last week, as part of this exchange, the Taiwanese representative in Ireland, Mr. Tseng, and three teachers from Taiwan visited Lucan community college where they met students and had time to discuss, mingle, integrate, share their experiences and develop a broader, international relationship.

A former parish priest in Ballyfermot, the late Father Peter Lemass, who was a friend of mine, once said that travel broadens the mind and instils in people the excitement of different cultures, attitudes and core skills. The successful cultural exchange I initiated between Taiwan and Ireland will expand into an exciting part of the education of many students in Taiwan and Lucan, under the principal of Lucan community college, Diane Birnie. I want to ensure the Government meets its responsibility to help empower young people.

I support the amendment tabled by the Minister for Education and Skills which sets out his plans for the education sector. These plans will take many years to implement, but the Minister's work thus far has been to consolidate the achievements of the education sector against the background of the economic crisis his Government inherited as a result of Fianna Fáil mismanagement.

Education requires resources, commitment, planning, policy and a vision. The Minister is the best person to lead the education system. As Minister for Finance in the rainbow coalition many years ago, he left enough money in the till to serve the needs of the education system when his Government's term concluded. After 14 years of reckless governance by the Fianna Fáil Party, we have a country in chaos. The Minister is dealing with this chaos.

It is ironic that on a night when the House is discussing a motion on education tabled by Sinn Féin, we learn that more than 650 primary schools in Northern Ireland face budget cuts under the leadership of a Sinn Féin Minister for Education.

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