Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's answer. A major issue that needs to be taken into account, as Deputy Conway-Walsh mentioned, is that colleges, on the basis of the funding structure, may sometimes choose to offer particular courses because it makes more financial sense to do so. We need to deal with that aspect.

In regard to the whole issue of workforce planning, lifelong learning and the various route maps through education, the Minister spoke about the national skills architecture. Will he give some detail in that regard? In the area of health, for example, has he had much engagement from the Department of Health in regard to further training, particularly of nurses? I have in mind lifelong learning and facilitating people who are working in healthcare and who may want to go on to become a nurse. In many cases, these staff are willing to commit to the health system and they are people we desperately need.

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