Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to make a contribution on this Bill. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who is from my own county. It is generally accepted that she is doing a very good job in the Department and I wish her well in that role.

The Bill refers to the internationalisation of education and focuses primarily on third-level in that respect. As I have told the Minister and her predecessor, however, I think the Government should be looking at internationalisation at a much earlier stage. This is particularly so, given the high level of interest that has been shown in Ireland by parents of young students who seek an opportunity to spend time in Irish secondary schools. Apart from the cultural impact it currently has on the school community, there is also an obvious economic benefit to be derived from students coming from abroad, either within the EU or outside it, to attend our second-level schools for short, fixed periods. It provides a major economic benefit for families across the country.

When I started in college after doing the leaving certificate, we lived in digs which was an economic benefit for the families we stayed with. Albeit unintentionally, it was a major advantage to the women who looked after such third-level students. The woman of the house who looked after me did so very well and I turned out all right, the Acting Chairperson might admit.

There is an opportunity to examine that concept for overseas second-level students. It is of benefit for such students who will be exposed to English as well as being immersed in our culture. There is also a benefit to the wider school community in hosting students from different cultures, backgrounds and religions. The more we expose our young people to cultural diversity, the better off we will be for it. It will also avoid difficulties in the future. In addition, there is an economic benefit.

I hope the Department of Education and Skills will examine developing a strategy with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Department of Justice and Equality, because there are visa issues facing students from non-EU countries, particularly from those states with which we do not have visa arrangements. There are major opportunities - we speak English and are an inoffensive country. We have not colonised anybody or tramped across the world causing problems. We are liked internationally and we should use that to our advantage.

The briefing document circulated by the Department of Education and Skills stated that Enterprise Ireland is a cornerstone of what the Minister is trying to achieve. This is not only about educational benefits, but also about an obvious economic benefit to this aspect of the Bill, as well as the wider use of education as something that can be exported. Every schoolchild or college student coming into Ireland is essentially an export and should be regarded as such.

Enterprise Ireland is promoting us in emerging states and reference has been made to the BRIC countries.

I am of the view that there is also potential in Hong Kong, in India among the emerging middle classes there, and in certain African countries. At present, there are moves to try to build capacity and develop a generation of individuals who will be able to lead those countries into the future. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a role to play in respect of this matter. Irish Aid has established a capacity-building expertise over many years in respect of those who will serve in future governments in countries we are trying to assist. There may be a possibility that Irish Aid could bring students from programme countries to universities and colleges in this country. Those individuals could then be upskilled and exposed to what we do that works. Obviously, it is also important to expose them to things that do not work from both a governance and a governmental point of view.

The Higher Education Authority is the primary source of funding for the colleges to which the Bill refers. Representatives from the authority and from one of the colleges in question, namely, the National College of Art and Design, came before the Committee of Public Accounts recently and I was absolutely gobsmacked by what was revealed. At the meeting, it emerged that the college was not capable of producing a set of accounts for a period of five years and that the Higher Education Authority continued to pump money into it in any event. Whether the authority knew that the college's accounts had not been signed off is not relevant. The important point relates to the Higher Education Authority's ability to deal with a budget in excess of €1.2 billion allocated to it by the Department and voted on by us via the Estimates process which it is supposed to disburse among the colleges for which it has responsibility. I was left with many unanswered questions regarding whether those who work for the authority possess the proper competencies and skill sets to allow them to properly manage the spending of its €1.2 billion budget. While the National College of Art and Design was the focus of the Committee of Public Accounts attention at the meeting in question, I have no doubt that there are serious deficiencies with regard to how the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Skills liaises with constituent colleges that receive funding from the Department indirectly.

This is a major matter of concern and the Committee of Public Accounts is going to revisit it. The members of the committee were left with many unanswered questions regarding the number of colleges which have issues similar to those relating to the National College of Art and Design. I informed those present at the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts that if they were operating in the real world of business, their directors would have been struck off, the company would have been wound up and those involved could very well be facing the wrath of the law in the context of their ability to carry out their functions. However, there appears to be some sort of insulation which applies to institutions which derive their funding from the public purse. Small and medium business owners and, indeed, ordinary people are of the view that this is not acceptable. The Secretary General of the Minister's Department had a great deal to say on this matter when he was before the Committee of Public Accounts and I hope that there will be some follow through in respect of it.

Deputy Conaghan made a very important point with regard to further education. I accept that this is a legacy issue which the Minister has inherited but perhaps she might be able to take some action in respect of it as the economy recovers. I refer to the fact that there is no capital funding available for old technical schools which became colleges of further education. The Minister is aware of those at Abbeyfeale and Shanagolden, which are located near where she resides and which are doing excellent work. However, these institutions do not have access to capital funding. It is only with the goodwill of the local education and training board that they are able to carry out minor works. If we value these colleges in the same way that we value primary and second level schools, and the Higher Education Authority is well capable of looking after the university sector, then we need to recognise the fact that they are falling between two stools when it comes to capital works and physical infrastructure.

Regardless of whether one is attending university, primary school or preschool or whether one is four or 40 years of age, physical infrastructure is hugely important because it forms part of the environment in which teaching and learning takes place. I recently tabled a parliamentary question on whole-school evaluations and the number of schools about which inspectors had written reports detailing inadequacies. I was dumbfounded by the reply I received which indicated that there are only three such schools. I can think of three such schools within a five-mile radius of my home. Will the Minister to consider the position in this regard, particularly as more money becomes available? The physical environment in which teaching and learning take place is extremely important, particularly for children or young people with learning difficulties who require stimuli, of one which can be the colour the walls are painted, who need space and who have requirements when it comes to their proximity to other children. All of that matters. If one is obliged to move, as I did on one occasion, eight children to allow a ninth to go to the toilet, it can cause a huge amount of upheaval. It is somewhat disingenuous that inspectors carrying out whole-school evaluations are expected to take a blinkered approach and focus only on what teachers and children are doing and ignore the physical environment in which they are operating.

What teachers and children are doing does not really tell the whole story with regard to what is happening in a school. I reiterate that this is a problem which the Minister inherited. In the days of plenty, when the main party in opposition was in government, action was not taken. I am not expecting action to be taken overnight now. However, we should put in place a plan to allow us to address this issue. The school building programme captures part of this matter. If, however, whole-school evaluations were properly structured, it would strengthen the Minister's hand with her colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in the context of leveraging more money for the work in this area that is absolutely vital.

I recently met representatives from my local education and training board in respect of a school in Croom. I know the Minister has a particular interest in this matter. Following on from what Deputy Moynihan said with regard to Kanturk, it is extremely important that the school project in Croom proceeds. The proposed new school will probably be one of the largest, if not the largest, in the mid-west because it will cater for more than 1,000 pupils. The conditions in which the pupils are currently obliged to learn are appalling. The Minister has committed funding in respect of this project and her Department is fully behind it. The sooner the planning process is completed and the work commences, the better it will be for everyone involved.

This is a good Bill and I am of the view that there may be an opportunity to broaden its provisions in order that they might apply to second level students at some point. I wish the Minister well in her role.

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