Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Sinn Féin supports the introduction of free education in the North and the South. That is not the same as the free education introduced by Fianna Fáil under which registration fees have increased by 260% in the past ten years. Part-time students continue to pay fees, which is a disincentive to going through third level education. The motion brought by Fianna Fáil is merely an exercise in backslapping but if we are to be serious about lifelong education, we need action.

There are no more jobs for life and with rapidly changing skills and employment, it is imperative our workforce is constantly retrained and upskilled. Education and training must be lifelong to ensure full employment. The facts, however, are depressing. Approximately 500,000 Irish adults have problems with basic reading and mathematics which means one in four Irish adults has problems with everyday literacy tasks such as reading instructions on medicine bottles. The Government's response has been lacklustre to say the least, with only 7,000 additional extra literacy places announced in Towards 2016. That target is unambitious and merely scratches the surface given that we are starting from a low base. Sinn Féin proposes a national literacy crusade with specific targets and dates for the incremental eradication of illiteracy. As such campaigns have been successful in other developing countries, there is no reason we cannot do the same.

My party also supports the call for paid educational and learning leave. Every country in the EU 15 except Ireland allows paid educational leave as a statutory entitlement. Here, however, such leave is left to the discretion of employers.

It has been estimated by the ESRI that any downturn in our economy would have disastrous effects on the estimated 400,000 or more unskilled adults in low wage marginal jobs. As a result of various problems with adult education provision, educational uptake among adults is significantly lower in Ireland than in other EU countries. The Twenty-six Counties has a rate of only 8% compared with more than 25% in Scandinavian countries.

It is the responsibility of the Government to plan proactively for possible future developments in the economy, including the future of workers. The collapse of the textile industry in County Donegal and the resultant haemorrhage of job losses is an indictment of the Government's failure to ensure the workforce was retrained in advance of the jobs being lost. Employment in County Donegal is heavily reliant on construction and the low paid service sector. With the inevitable busts and booms of a capitalist economy, these workers are vulnerable to unemployment unless they are trained and upskilled. At approximately 18%, County Donegal already has to contend with the highest rate of unemployment in the Twenty-six Counties.

Sinn Féin is clear on the priorities for protecting against unemployment. We need to eradicate illiteracy, introduce paid educational leave as a statutory entitlement and make work-based learning and training available to all workers. That is what the Government should propose instead of the backslapping in which it has engaged.