Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and the establishment of his Department, which will give us an opportunity to focus on the issues of further and higher education. I very much welcome his opening remarks because he covered a number of issues, such as the stigmatisation of young people, which is unfortunate, and the issue of sexual violence in third level institutions, which he is passionate about tackling. We also want to discuss the funding of third level education and the Cassells report, which the Minister referred to. The previous Minister with responsibility for the area, during the previous Government, ruled out the student loan contribution scheme, which was a positive move.

I turn to an area the Minister has highlighted since the beginning of his tenure, namely, the issue of literacy and numeracy among our adult population. I feel passionately about it because, like many areas of Irish public policy, not enough people talk about it. There is a significant element of stigma attached to it, just like most matters that are difficult to grapple with, and there is even an element of shame. A total of 17.9% of Irish adults are functionally illiterate. "Functional illiteracy" means being unable to read an instruction manual, an application form or the back of a medicine bottle. It does not mean the person is illiterate or that he or she cannot read or write his or her own name, but it does mean he or she cannot fully participate in our society. The figure of 17.9% is one sixth of the population. Many people either do not believe that figure or are astounded by it, but it is true and it has actually improved, given that a number of years ago, it was calculated at 23%. Can one imagine how one could live one's life, or negotiate one's day, without the level of literacy that one needs?

One of the measures we proposed in the previous Oireachtas was a plain language Bill, which would have ensured that all public documents would be accessible. More often than not, those who need public documents the most to survive are those with lower literacy standards. It should not be so difficult to read a public document. It should not be like opening an encyclopaedia. It should be accessible and easy to read and understand. I sometimes wonder whether public documents are put together almost deliberately to confuse. If this is what is between a person and accessing his or her rights, payments or benefits, often it can be one step too many for people.

The second positive policy proposal we had was to establish an agency that might be called "Literacy Ireland". As the National Adult Literacy Agency, NALA, has told us, there are about eight Departments that deal with literacy or with elements of literacy. With that kind of approach to literacy, whether from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs or the Department of Health, there is not one overall strategy that can effect change. One in three children leaves disadvantaged schools with basic reading difficulties. In the United States, private prison operators calculate how many prison cells they will need in 15 years' time by looking at the literacy rates of ten year olds. In this country, as in most other developed countries, the difference between the oral language capacity of a three year old from a disadvantaged family and that of a three year old from an advantaged family is as much as 66%. On average, there are 400 words in the oral language capacity of the former, versus 1,200 words in that of the latter. Obviously, that will reflect itself in the adult's experience.

I have only a number of minutes to raise these issues with the Minister, but it could be really powerful if Members in government and in opposition could together achieve something on the literacy scale. If we were to establish an agency such as "Literacy Ireland", or to place a governmental priority on an issue such as literacy, imagine how many people it would liberate. They would be able to say that while they have grappled with a literacy issue all their lives, a door has now opened to them and they can fully participate in their society, their economy, their families and their democracy.

It is powerful. I appreciate that was one of the first statements the Minister made in his current role and one of the first groups that he met. If he is genuine about working with the Opposition and having positive policy proposals to tackle this issue, that is something powerful that the Oireachtas could achieve.

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