Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

We all accept that knowledge and its successful application are essential to economic and social progress. In recent years we have increasingly come to acknowledge this in the way in which we manage education. However, time waits for no man. We cannot become complacent. Such is the pace of change in our world today that any education system, no matter how successful – I know Senator O'Toole will agree with me – which stands around to admire itself will have gone backwards in an instant. That is a sobering thought. The countries that were long regarded as having successful education systems have seen a deterioration in their OECD comparative performances recently. Why is this? What did they do to cause this deterioration, this drop in standards? Surprisingly – or perhaps not surprisingly – the answer is nothing. They had done nothing to keep their education systems moving forward; instead they sat back in admiration of what they had achieved. In so doing, they let down the learners, the people they were there to serve.

If our education system is to continue to serve learners into the future, which it must, it must continue to move forward and evolve. We must continue to embrace ongoing change. All of us – partners in education and legislators – must keep abreast of the changes in employment needs, for example, which are being flagged frequently in surveys being carried out on future skills needs. One recent survey pointed to the fact that upwards of three-quarters of the jobs to be filled in ten to 15 years' time would be for third level graduates alone. That is a clear indication of the need for all the partners in education to embrace change. Equally, changes in the social development of our country, as I mentioned earlier, with so many influences from abroad and within, are huge challenges for which education must always be ready as it plays a vital role.

I join with the Minister and Senator Burke in paying tribute to our teachers who, especially in recent decades, have enthusiastically embraced phenomenal change with the highest level of professional dedication and commitment. My colleague across the way, who was once in another world my boss, acknowledges that fully. We must give them due respect for that. If people in this House have any doubts about the justification for benchmarking – I am sure nobody has such doubts anymore – I suggest with the deepest of respect that they pay a visit to a few primary and secondary schools around the country where they will see the sea changes that have taken place which are being enthusiastically embraced by teachers. They will be left in no doubt that benchmarking and the justification for it is beyond dispute.