Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State as we face up to the challenges of the economic recession. We face a very difficult budget, as the Minister of State noted, and we must acknowledge the steps that have been taken to face up to the challenges. The only way we can do that is through education and training. We must acknowledge the enormous unemployment figures. How do we protect jobs and create new ones? How do we handle people who are unemployed? These are the challenges the Minister of State faces and I wish him well in that regard. They concern how we can overcome the problem, take people off the live register, provide courses relevant to their needs and reflect that end of society today.

The Minister of State spoke much about the smart economy, namely, how we can best secure enterprise and promote competitiveness. Again,this must come about through education and training. There is no other way at present. We must look at the needs and see who are unskilled and need to be reskilled or upskilled or whether they need to be skilled at all. Should we look again and see what society wants today? Perhaps it has changed. The concept of jobs may change in the future. I have asked many times for a debate in this House on the concept of work for the future. What is the future for Ireland? What is our vision for the future? Perhaps the old-fashioned idea of traditional courses to which the Minister of State referred may no longer be the type to pursue in respect of making links with the unemployed.

We talked about many initiatives. The Minister of State mentioned the post-leaving certificate courses which are excellent for tackling job losses and enhancing skills. The Minister of State also spoke of back to work initiatives, lifelong learning programmes and FÁS courses. There is a plethora. It concerns me there may be a great deal of overlap in many of these courses. I welcome the concept of taking courses out of colleges and putting them into the workforce or communities. Many people are long-term unemployed and may be unemployable. They do not know how to go back into the system even though the Minister of State has introduced an excellent new adult service initiative. We need to figure out how to create a link to those who are unemployed and how we can bring them into a workforce rather than into a school-type situation. We might not want that new arrangement of class and teacher.

The challenges are great and I wish the Minister of State well. The only way back is through education, training and lifelong learning. However, let it be holistic. Many people need to think about themselves as people and perhaps this is a golden opportunity for them. They want to be upskilled and they want a new "me" as they come into the world of work. If I can be of any help to the Minister of State in the area I know best, namely, education training, I would be delighted to work with him.