Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Before I start, I would like to welcome Councillor Kevin Meenan to this illustrious place. Obviously, he will be absolutely delighted to be mentioned and will not be embarrassed by it in any way, shape or form. In fairness, he will probably also say that the best thing I could do would be to use ChatGPT to prepare my speech rather than delivering what I am going to come out with now. Anyway, we are where we are.

I was in a committee earlier today dealing with the issue of drugs and the completely disastrous impact that they have had on society. We are talking here about science, the joy of science, and the possible future successes and solutions to some of the problems we have, from climate change right across the board. We need to make sure that we do not have a huge cohort of people who are locked out of education, which is the issue at the minute. We have had over-and-back discussions on the high cost of fees and accommodation and their impact on those who are already, or who would like to be, in further education. This needs to be addressed in a wholehearted way, which is not what we have seen in the recent budget.

We also need to provide supports at a far earlier stage for those on the margins. I have often talked about the need for early family intervention so we can ensure that we facilitate people to enter employment, life-long learning and so on. We have all seen advances in the last while, including at the Drogheda Institute of Further Education, DIFE, in my own constituency, as well as Ó Fiaich College and the PLC route, which members of my own family have used. These routes are particularly good for those who are not necessarily enamoured of the secondary school system and can enable them to get where they need to go. I have seen huge success stories in that regard. I welcome the fact that there is a far deeper relationship between the likes of Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, and the further education colleges, as well as other universities across the State. That is absolutely necessary.

I do not think I have ever been in the Chamber to speak about this sort of topic previously without mentioning the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence, an absolutely spectacular facility that deals with industry from the point of view of producing what is needed. When we talk about apprenticeships, we are not just talking about the traditional trades but also about the likes of AI, robotics and so on. There was much talk earlier in relation to disability and we need to see increased input around assistive technologies in the context of autism and other disabilities. A lot more work needs to be done in that area.

There is also a particular issue with regard to the personal assistants who do great work in further education but who do not have the contracts they require. I have no doubt that both the Minister and the Minister of State are aware of it and that we will get a solution.

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