Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing with the Ministers for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Michael D'Arcy. I thank the Ceann Comhairle and understand his concern.

The budget is strategic and fair and a budget for a changing Ireland. We are facing challenges that require a strategic approach. Everyone knows about the Brexit challenge, but, equally, we remain a country with a 100% debt ratio of GNI*. That puts us in a vulnerable position which is why it is important that this year we balance our budget. We have started to set aside money in a rainy day fund and have taken great steps to prepare for Brexit.

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will refer to enterprise. In my portfolio, we are significantly gearing up our capacity not only to provide skills to young people coming out of school and college, which is crucial, but also to enable more people to reskill during their lives. Given the impact of technological change, which is hitting every sector at a phenomenal pace, we must ensure that people have a chance to access education, particularly those who might not have had education the first time around. We are making provision for significant numbers this year. There are 5,000 re-entrants who are below NFQ Level 5, which is a relatively low level of education, and 7,500 additional people supported in employer-led initiatives, with 62,000 in all participating from within the work place. There will be 8,500 in the Springboard programme, which provides people with the opportunity to switch career. In recent years, more than 50,000 people availed of that to switch career. Those are courageous people who, as a result of the economic crash, saw that they needed to change direction in their lives, and have done so successfully. We must gear up for that.

Looking at education and its strategic role in the economy, the Minister's decision to increase capital expenditure by 24% is crucial if we want to build economic and social resilience for the years ahead. I have been the beneficiary of that with a 26% increase in infrastructural investment in education. That is crucial because we continue to have a bulge of young people. I am providing for 10,000 more students in school this year, and, at third level, we will see what had been a bulge going through primary and second level moving on to third level. The investment in third level, which in 2019 will double the 2018 rate, is also part of the €2.2 billion investment in third level which we will roll out over the next decade. That will transform the scale of investment and help us gear up the regions, in particular, so that we have strong skill magnets that are equipped to support the enterprises they lead. That provision in third level is important. The creation of a €300 million fund which will be implemented from 2020 over the following five years is a significant decision, as it will allow new approaches to the delivery of third level education, identifying skill gaps and the means to fortify particular sectors that were vulnerable and looking at new ways of delivering third level education in a way that people who have other commitments in their lives can avail of it.

I am also pleased that we can continue the important progress in schools. Not only are we increasing capital investment to provide more world-class facilities for students, we are continuing to roll out new resources in important areas such as SNAs, who are an invaluable support to young people with special needs. This year, we will also start the implementation of a new approach to supporting children with special needs in our schools that had been advocated by the National Council for Special Education. Next year there will again be a record increase in investment in education. There are many demands within the education system. Many will say that they would like more to be allocated for pay, capitation or new facilities but we are using the resources as judiciously as possible to maintain momentum, with the long-term goal that by 2026 we will have the best education and training service in Europe.

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