Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

It is obvious from her bringing forward of the Bill that the apprenticeship the Minister served from 1985 onwards, and her educational reskilling, coming as she did from a rich educational and teaching background, was not lost on her. The mission she embarked upon then has been taken to a further and much higher stage of fruition today by her enabling, facilitating and empowering the DIT and other institutes throughout the country to go forward with a mission, a vision and the pioneering spirit. It is a clear acknowledgement and demonstration by the Minister of what she saw then and sees now as leading to a holistic journey for education, and the central and constituent role the institutes of technology play in that journey.

Well done to the Minister. She served her apprenticeship well from 1985 onwards, as she is clearly demonstrating today. I congratulate her on it.