John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank her for her statement. The last time I spoke on this topic, the context was the position of the Irish education system in the top rank of the OECD in terms of both quality and level of participation. The motion before the House on that occasion expressed the view of the House that we were anxious to maintain quality, responsiveness and competitiveness as a priority in higher education.

Today's contributions follow directly on from this in terms of ensuring that the quality and level of participation in education is maintained through funding and other measures and how we can make responsiveness and competitiveness features of our education system. In my contribution I want to focus on two particular developments of importance to third level funding, namely, the most recent budget and the publication of the Report of the Working Group on Undergraduate Medical Education and Training, chaired by Professor Fottrell.

The budget gave a useful indication of the Government's view of the country's priorities as being infrastructure development, welfare, pensions, child care, fair taxation and helping the consumer. It is noticeable, first, that investment in third level education is also a specific priority and, second, that it features under the heading of supporting our economic success. In the 1980s the challenge was to turn economic stagnation and social despair into a situation where we could prioritise the areas where massive investment was to be targeted. We must be able to create an environment in which the economy thrives, jobs are created, revenue is generated, better public services are provided and the vulnerable are assisted.

The Government has pursued economic policies with social objectives that have made that investment possible, and we are not inclined to stop now. Ireland's education system was the basis for the rapid economic progress we have made in recent decades. In his Budget Statement the Minister for Finance stated that a disproportionate amount of emphasis is placed on taxation policy as a key element in our economic success. While this has been extremely important, I agree that the single biggest contributor to our success has been the availability to both indigenous and foreign investors of an exceptionally well-educated workforce. In this regard, prudent financial management, which is a core policy of the Progressive Democrats, demands that we continue to position ourselves at the very front of the world's knowledge-based economies. Prudent financial management means not just managing the present but also preparing for the future.

When I spoke on this issue in the previous debate in the House, I said it is imperative that we ensure our education system is kept relevant to our wider social and economic needs. In a changing society and a rapidly evolving economy, higher education must be continually challenged to remain relevant and responsive. Education skills, research and innovation are the by-words for success in the new economic era. That means that there must be a strong and constant connection between higher education policy and our national development needs. A natural economy was once based upon natural resources — coal, gas, oil, agriculture and so on — but if knowledge is the new basis of a national economy, then the rules have changed.

The budget is a key part of making that happen. It acknowledges the connection I referred to and the changing of the rules. It also acknowledges the need for substantial change and improvement in quality in our universities and centres of higher learning. It is an acceptance that we must pursue the so-called system wide collaboration, maximising potential by applying the collective strengths of our third level institutions. The budget allows for a multi-annual strategic innovation fund for higher education and the establishment of a new PhD level of education at fourth level.

I commend the Minister for the allocation of €300 million to the strategic innovation fund for higher education over the next five years. It is entirely appropriate that we provide for competition for these new funds to stimulate excellence through collaboration and change. The Government is also committing €900 million to the third level sector over the next five years as part of the Department of Education and Science capital envelope. Some €630 million of that investment will be from Exchequer funds; the balance will come via public-private partnership initiatives.

Before I move on to discuss the working report group, I wish to stress one point. I said at the outset that the Progressive Democrats have pursued economic policies not for its own sake but as a vehicle to deliver the best services for society. Over the next four years, planned capital investment and the strategic innovation fund for third level will total €1.2 billion, an incredible sum of money. That investment will be targeted. The people of Ireland have worked hard to make this type of funding possible. We employ the right policies to maximise the benefits of that work and the budget provisions for third level education are testament to the rectitude of our approach.

The second element of my contribution concerns the Fottrell report and it is closely linked to the issues I explored earlier in that education and research are critical to the quality of service delivered in our health system by those persons educated in Ireland to train and work in Ireland. In my previous contribution on this topic, I expressed my concern about the entrance requirements and access, especially in the health sciences areas. The Higher Education Authority report of 2003 proposed reform of graduate entry to medicine and a range of other health professional disciplines. The goal was to relieve some of the pressure associated with entry to these programmes.

In framing the programme for Government, the Progressive Democrats and our partners in Government committed to addressing that specific issue. This was in recognition of the point I raised earlier regarding the negative impact such high-pressure competition has on the second level education system. In this regard I commend the Minister for Education and Science and the Tánaiste for jointly establishing the working group on undergraduate medical education and training. More significantly, I acknowledge and commend the work of the group that recommended the number of EU places in undergraduate education, a course curriculum in the medical schools, graduate entry programmes, accreditation and increases in the number of academic clinicians as well as the many other complex issues that shape the delivery of undergraduate medical education.

On foot of this great work, the Minister together with the Tánaiste jointly announced a €200 million initiative for major reform of medical education and training, which correctly encompasses the system from undergraduate level through to postgraduate training. In general terms, the doubling of numbers for Irish and EU students has received most comment. This is due, most likely, to the pressures of entry I mentioned earlier and is not surprising.

However, there is a wider significance to the reforms announced by the Minister. We must guarantee a significant number of highly-trained doctors for our growing population, but this will also allow for a wider programme of health reform. It will mean a shift from a consultant-led to a consultant-provided service, increased emphasis on doctors, nurses and other health professionals working in multidisciplinary teams. It will also lead to a more co-ordinated approach to medical education and training.

The two reports produced by the groups chaired by Dr. Jane Buttimer and Professor Fottrell inform important steps towards the development and reform of medical education. A great debt is owed to these groups. They will facilitate an integrated implementation strategy, as the Tánaiste has stated, to enhance and modernise medical education and training across the continuum from the undergraduate stage through to specialised training.

I said at the outset that we must be in a position to provide targeted investment in third level education. We must also have the correct strategy to ensure that investment delivers the excellence associated with the Irish education system. While this becomes increasingly complex as we move from a more conventional to a knowledge-based economy, the measures outlined in the budget and the developments on foot of the Fottrell report demonstrate that the Government is committed to maintaining that standard of excellence. I compliment the Minister on the leadership and initiatives she has taken in this regard, which will not only benefit Irish citizens, but also the economy.