Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

Higher and further education plays a pivotal role in driving economic development, as we all know. The link between the financial circumstances of children and young people can be statistically verified, with those growing up with good financial circumstances more likely to have a third level education compared to those who experience bad financial circumstances in childhood. This is 64.1% compared to 38.7%. Therefore, we can say there is a direct correlation between government intervention and the outcomes. At this time there are too many children who do not reach their full educational potential. The majority of these children are from less well-off backgrounds. Their parents cannot afford the grinds that have become a shadow education system in this State. We have to create a level playing field. This needs to be rectified, not only for the good of the individuals and their families but for the good of the economy in these strained global economic times.

The higher education sector provides the framework for research development with many innovations resulting in the creation of new industries, businesses and jobs streaming from the sector. Over recent weeks, with my colleague, Senator Conor Murphy, I have met with representatives from Meta, Google, Medtronic, Engineers Ireland, and Skillnet Ireland. At each of these meetings the need for increased investment to harness the opportunities provided by AI was discussed. The creation of new innovative companies and the ability to scale them is crucial for closing Europe's innovation and productivity gap, as highlighted recently in the Draghi report. I have asked the Government many times to unlock the National Training Fund to enable businesses to upskill so they can remain competitive and I am glad to see this is being done now.

A lot of what is being committed to here will be judged on whether it is delivered. We got fine words before in this space and it has not amounted to what it needs to amount to. If we are to stay ahead of the curve in our competitiveness and in many other aspects, and if we are to deal with a huge and growing inequality gap, there must be delivery on these things. I do not believe it is fair that businesses are contributing to the National Training Fund and building it up when they cannot get access to it. It is important that this be made accessible to businesses and for training, and also for what they have identified the need is. We are aware that EU companies spend significantly less on research and development than their US counterparts.

I also want to raise with the Minister the need for the provision of a further education and training centre in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. I have been asking for this for years. I raised it a number of times with the previous Minister and was told that SOLAS would look into it. Ballyhaunis is regularly cited as the most multicultural town in Ireland. It needs a facility like this as an economic driver. I urge the Minister to engage with the local community there to ensure the training centre is provided.

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