Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on lifelong learning and education in general. I want to discuss the delivery of educational facilities in rural areas. Irrespective of the efforts invested in better education, difficulties remain in reaching out to people living in remote areas. I am from Waterford, which has encountered challenges in terms of expanding educational schemes to rural parts of the county. People who wish to engage with the education system find it difficult to access the resources and programmes on offer because, for example, broadband penetration is limited. Broadband and other supports must be put in place if we are to be serious about delivering education to the regions.