Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to talk about our youngsters growing up and their future. We are educating children and pupils to the highest standard in our universities. I also welcome the Munster Technological University in Tralee, which is a big advantage. We needed for so long and we are glad to have it since the beginning of last year. It is important for the vibrancy of Tralee and to facilitate youngsters from Kerry, Cork and the entire area.

We are educating people to the highest standard but we do not seem to be able to hold on to them. There is a shortage of staff in every area. Whether it is doctors, nurses, teachers or whatever else, we seem to be losing people. They go abroad and we are lucky if some of them come back. Is it pay and conditions or what is the reason? We must get to the bottom of it.

Recently, we learned that the HSE has been trying to appoint a senior consultant psychiatrist for south Kerry for over six years. That is not acceptable. What is wrong? Are we not educating people to qualified as consultant psychiatrists? As well as psychiatrists, we need psychologists. When youngsters are growing from boys and girls into men and women, there are physical changes but there are mental problems as well. It cannot be just a case of shoving a needle into them and giving them an injection or whatever they were being given. We have to talk to them and get to the root of the problem. We need more psychiatrists to deal with those cases. Our whole mental system is a shambles. Surely the Government knows that.

We need to get more people into apprenticeships and the trades and at the same time allow them to do night courses if they want to get an academic education or a master's degree. They should be able to do their apprenticeship first. There is nothing wrong with being a plumber, electrician, mechanic, plasterer or blocklayer. We need them. We should not look down on those people.

There is an attitude now that people must go to university and perhaps not do those things. Maybe everybody is not suited to going to university. If they were working at home, it would be good for our rural areas. It would be good for them to mind their parents and families at home. They could be at home and work from home. As I said, not everyone is made for third level education. Some of the smartest people we know never went to university or college.

The points system is the other aspect. There are people who really want to get into a certain course or whatever but the points system is all wrong. It is all about places and if there are more applications, the points go up.

I have a few more things to say on the cost of getting a licence for a driver. We cannot get drivers, be they bus drivers or lorry drivers. The cost of getting licences is too high. Young people are being turned away because they do not have the funding and they are not getting help with it.

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