Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

It has been nice listening to people and I am delighted the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, has returned to the House. I am encouraged by the level of belief he has in the smart economy and where he sees it in the country's future and for his children. I come from a similar place and I want to touch on a few items. I want to touch on creativity as being the biggest loser and the biggest resource on which we have not capitalised in this country, especially as the key bridge between education and enterprise. I want to look at creativity and whether the second and third education system is fostering an enterprise culture and creativity and how that links into the smart economy. I also want to look at particular key infrastructure.

If we look at the current context, we do not have a good story to tell. Internationally, we are perceived as a basket case and the markets treat us like mugs. This is for three main reasons. Our basic figures are bad because we have a terrible budget deficit and a terrible bank story. Our management of our economy is perceived as disastrous in terms of corporate governance, and the Minister of State has seen what we have seen in FÁS, the HSE and throughout the Civil Service with regard to a breakdown in regulation. Above all, the reason the markets have decided we are a basket case is because we have no growth story.

I will look at the long term first and then move to the short term. I recognise the intention of the smart economy document being discussed. I also recognise the fact that 200,000 jobs have been lost in the private sector since the onset of recession. That is criminal. As well as all the personal lives that have been hurt by this, it is affecting our economy because that is what gives growth. Senator Deary spoke about the export market being obvious and that is where the job stimulus should be. If we want a key job stimulus it should be with a view to export because that is the shot in the arm straight into the vein in terms of improving our GDP. Before I leave the 200,000 lost jobs I will refer to a point made by my colleague, Senator Donohoe, that small and medium enterprises have felt left out and have not had an adequate voice in partnership. I would not argue the same case for IBEC as it has been included. Small and medium enterprises make the case to me on an ongoing basis that if they had been adequately included in partnership we would not have had the disaster of benchmarking and all the extra money without adequate performance measurement and outcomes being improved.

Let me go back to what I think can be a great news story for Ireland, which is the area of creativity. It is said that imagination is more important than information and skills, and creativity is based on imagination. Our children in primary schools are full of imagination, and to be fair, primary school develops that. The second level system beats it out of them, and for one reason - it is an exam-driven system. This system does not capitalise adequately on children's innate potential to create. If we had more ways, in our second level system in particular, whereby children could create, I believe it would put them in a better state of readiness and give them more confidence to be the entrepreneurs of the future. The third level system gives them opportunities but many do not get there or the make wrong choices before they get there because we are turning what we want in terms of a creative and knowledge economy into an information output exam system at second level. Creativity is the loser and it has never been more needed than now.

A very simple move or change can make a difference in terms of how we assess our children. My eldest child did his junior certificate this summer and one of the subjects he took was woodwork. As we know, in woodwork one makes things. There is also much theory to it but by its very nature it is creative. The project he chose was to build a piece of furniture to hold his guitar. It was not only the piece which impressed me, and I have only seen it since he brought it home in the past month, it was also the portfolio he had to include with it on how he came up with his idea, his little business plan and his drafting and redrafting. It was phenomenal because he learned theory on which he was then examined in the written component of the exam but he also created something and he will never forget that. I will put on the record of the House that he got a B in woodwork. It was clear to me he got an A in his practical project and probably a C in the written exam. One size does not fit all. Relying on written exams loses too many of our children. The biggest thing the project did was to engage his parents, in particular his father. I am not a bit woodwork oriented but they had a reason to talk and work out what they were doing. Even how he arrived at the logo on the piece of furniture he created was fascinating.

This is very simple. Enterprise, which is the remit of the Minister of State, needs to link up more with education, especially with regard to assessment. There is no reason that every subject should not have a practical component, be it the production of a tape, a visual, or a book as well as the written terminal exam. The last of these is killing the spirit and imagination of too many children.

We know third level education is critical to the knowledge and creative economy to grow our story. We have a crisis in the funding of higher level education. The Joint Committee on Education and Skills has heard endless presentations from the heads of institutes of technology and universities. I accept that they have had waste and in some cases one might say there has been an abuse of funds, but they have proven to us repeatedly that the current level of funding is not sustainable. We have a target in this country to try to increase the number of children at third level to 72%. I think we are hovering at 60% at present. There are fascinating courses available at third level with great opportunities. We in Galway, for example, have a great specialism in the medical device sector, which is the shot in the arm in terms of exports and GDP, and the university and the institute of technology support that with graduates. This is joined-up thinking of the best form.

We need to look at how third level education will be funded. This Government has not faced up to that because of the Greens. Fianna Fáil has let the Greens have their way there and has not tackled it. The Government knows where we in Fine Gael are coming from. We believe there must be some type of graduate contribution. Because we are being truthful, we know the economy cannot sustain the amount of money needed for higher education. We are taking in approximately €34 billion in taxes, €2 billion of which goes to higher education - one seventeenth. We know the state of the public finances and we have not a hope of continuing to pay that. We propose that when graduates get a job they would begin to pay back the loan given to them to fund their third level education. I was really surprised when I surveyed students on this in Galway. They thought it was fair because they did not want their parents to pay yet again simply because of the current environment.

Senator Donohoe also referred to key infrastructure areas that we need to develop, especially around connectivity. Galway airport, as the Minister of State will probably be aware, is under severe threat. It gets €2.3 million a year from the Government for operation costs and for the PSO. Right now, that is under threat of being pulled. The most important point is that 82% of businesses, indigenous, SMEs and multinationals, have stated Galway is "essential" to the international markets and those are our export businesses. In wages alone, the 175 airport-based jobs give back €2.1 million to the Exchequer and at that level, it is paying back the Government. There are thousands of jobs for which the airport is essential based on the views of businesses. We need to be smart in the short term and not cut off our nose to spite our face.

Executives also pointed out when interviewed that the time of executives, many of whom are cardiologists going abroad selling products, is critical in terms of getting connectivity to Europe. In executive time alone, €4.5 million per year is saved by having the airport in Galway. I am making a strong case to be careful about what the Government cuts because a bad move will cut off thousands of jobs.