Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The issue on which the House should focus is not the Budget Statement of 15 October but rather the event that took place on 21 July in McHale Park in Castlebar. I do not think anyone could have envisaged a team of emigrants from the four corners of Ireland competing in the Connacht final. Successive governments have used emigration as the safety valve for recession. This is a fatally flawed policy because emigration is costing our economy €20,000 every minute in education alone. The emigration of almost 90,000 people in the last 12 months is a huge brain drain from our economy. It is costing the taxpayer €9.6 billion to educate those people so that they can leave this country. This is unsustainable. A figure of €9.6 billion is €800 million a year more than the total expenditure on the education system. Unless we start to bring hope back to the country and to the economy, more people will be leaving the country. The current economic strategy is all about cutting and taxing. We need to give people the opportunity to stand up against the burden of austerity. The vast majority want a hand up rather than a hand-out. They want to be able to ensure that their children can achieve their goals in life and they do not see that happening as a result of the current strategies. Over the years we have exported our skills across the world, particularly in the areas of health care and education. These skills are becoming more of a privilege than a right. It is imperative to establish a climate of hope.

I note the report of the chief inspector at the Department of Education and Skills, which should act as a warning about what is going wrong in the country. That template needs to be used across the public sector and in all Departments. We need to examine where we are doing things wrong and how improvements can be made. Each Department has its key output and impact indicators, but I ask what is being measured. What are our objectives? The difficulty is that everything is focused on short-term measures. Speakers have talked about 15 December, the date that will solve everything. At that stage we will lose the mudguard. We will be out in the economy and borrowing in the markets, which will impose significant restrictions on our economy.

The country needs a clear plan for where we want to be in ten years' time. We have 64,000 eight year olds in the country. In ten years' time they will be doing their leaving certificate. Will they have the opportunity to live and work in this country? Will they be able to afford to go to college in this country? These are key policy decisions that need to be made now. Each Department needs to set out its objectives in order to achieve what we want in ten years' time. Departments need to adopt a whole-of-government approach rather than dealing with issues in isolation. The example I like to use is the issue of school attendance. By connecting the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Social Protection we could not only save €100 million but provide a real incentive for families from disadvantaged communities to ensure that those children attend school. The resources of the State would be focused on ensuring that those children attend school.

We do not want the crazy situation we have at the moment, where last September 1,500 children failed to turn up in secondary school having left primary school the previous June, to continue.

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