Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome this timely and useful motion which allows Members to debate a matter of substantial public importance. It was a man from Mallow, Thomas Davis, who coined the phrase "Educate that you may be free." In today's Ireland, that phrase became "educate that you may be employed", and then "educate that you may employ". The concept of education has changed greatly and the future of the Ireland and its economy is dependent on the quality of education.

The motion refers to the Lisbon Agenda, the European agreement to ensure that Europe will develop and grow into a a successful, knowledge based economy. At a meeting of the Committee on European Affairs last week, there was an interesting discussion on the economic challenges facing the European continent as well as on the Lisbon Agenda. I was struck by the current decline in the European population, which makes the continent in a sense the old man of the world. The issue of population is its major current challenge. The experts who attended that meeting made the point that the short-term solution is increased productivity and increased migrant labour. Nonetheless, the declining European population is an issue which would be worthy of debate here on another occasion.

I concur with the views of Members from all sides in regard to the motion, on which there is no question of a political divide. We should aspire to having every second level student move on to third level, which is no longer the stuff of dreams. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was inconceivable that every primary school pupil would move on to second level education. A political decision by the former Minister, Donogh O'Malley, to make second level education free changed the concept of education and opportunity. It quickly became the norm rather than the aspiration that all would attend second level. The plan of the Government must be to bring about a situation where every second level student will not just have but will take the opportunity to move on to third level. This will require funding and investment.

The only real debate on education over the past 18 months was on the issue of fees. It was often an emotional debate in which a heavy body of evidence could be presented on both sides. However, once the decision was taken in the mid-1990s by the former Minister, Ms Niamh Breathnach, that fees in the conventional format would not be paid, there could be no going back because the public would not accept any reversal.

The public recognises that even with free fees, education costs must be paid for. It is a question of where the investment comes from. Senator Cummins referred to the need to secure private investment and to have third level colleges and institutes work closely with industry and business, which is a wise analysis. We should not make education ideological. There is a tendency when discussing third level education and the possibility of funding from the private sector for research and development, for alarm bells to ring for a number of people. They see it as a dangerous step towards the privatisation of third level education, which is neither fair nor accurate. Taxpayers and Government can only contribute so much and we must look beyond them for the extra investment which will be required.

I am not an expert on the subject and take note of Senator Mansergh's contribution, in particular his comments on the funding of research, which is of critical importance for ongoing economic development. That this motion is before the House and that the Minister has requested a review must be welcomed. I note comments from a former Taoiseach, Dr. Garret FitzGerald, on the broader aspects of funding and payment, and such interventions and ideas are to be welcomed and, I hope, utilised to some degree.

It is the aspiration of every Member to have the level of funding required in the educational system, particularly at third level, in place for research and ongoing development. We should not work from the old-fashioned ideological stances of left and right. We must see the broader picture of investment in education, funding and research. This will be similar to the social partnership — all sides will be required to come on board and play their part. When the report comes back we will have a chance to study the options and while there may be difficult political choices to be made, it is the job of politicians to make those decisions.