Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Collins for raising this important matter. I note he raised the issue of the horticulture course in Skibbereen with me previously in this House. I have done a bit of research on which I will engage with him in a moment. There is huge importance in investing in talent and in our people. We need to have an education system that has multiple pathways for people to reach their full potential. For some people that will be university. For some people that will be our education and training boards. For some people it will be a combination of both. For some people it will be in-work training. For some people it will be the apprenticeship or traineeship model. There was a rigidity to our education system in years gone by, which we need to challenge. I think there is a political consensus on that.

I was honoured to be the first Minister for further and higher education. There was a lot of work going on in that space and it is a very can-do sector. I agree with the Deputy on that. I also agree with him on the importance of horticulture. His diagnosis of the challenge is right. We need to be able to do a hell of a lot more in this country because it makes sense from a variety of areas economically but also from the point of view of the green agenda, climate change and sustainability. All the figures will show the Deputy that we are absolutely expanding the number of education courses across the country. We are expanding the funding to ETBs and the number of people going. All these things are beyond dispute and beyond question. I can produce any amount of data to show that the third level sector is growing in every dimension.

However, the Deputy is right that there seems to be a particular issue with this horticulture course. I would be happy to engage further on this. I made inquiries and my note tells me something different from what the Deputy outlined, as he may not be surprised to hear. I will share with him what I have been told.

The Department of further and higher education made inquiries with Cork Education and Training Board and I was told that the ETB has decided to remove its offering of the course for the academic year 2024-25 as it is not considered to be viable based on the low level of applications to date. The horticulture post-leaving certificate level 5 course offered in Skibbereen under the auspices of the Morrison's Island campus of the Cork College of Further Education and Training has seen enrolments and course completions fall consistently over the past number of years. The ETB tells me it needs to have a level of demand for any course to determine its schedule of courses and making the most effective use of its college. It is saying it does not currently believe there is a level sufficient to support a class group and it is therefore not possible for any provider, including the ETB, to meet that demand. The Deputy is giving me different data, which I am not disputing. I am happy to see that and for my office to engage directly with Cork ETB. There can only be one set of figures. There cannot be two versions of the truth.

On the horticulture sector more broadly, there is now a horticultural apprenticeship programme that has recently been developed for the first time, with Teagasc. This is an important part of what the Deputy rightly asks about how we encourage more people to come into horticulture. It is by providing apprenticeship routes and pathways. The point the Deputy makes about promoting horticulture as a career is something I am happy to talk about with our agencies and revert to the Deputy in writing.

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