Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I will begin where he finished, by acknowledging the great deal of work that has gone into the legislation through consultation. This has been very positive and is reflected in the wording before us today. Fianna Fáil supports the Bill, and we started the process of rationalising and streamlining the sector when we were in government. We very much support the replacement of the 33 VECs with 16 education and training boards.

There is huge potential in the further education and training sector, which has always done fantastic work, and 270,000 places exist in the sector in a wide range of areas. The work done by the VECs and FÁS is what is most often thought of, but a wide variety of excellent work is also done in Youthreach programmes and community and adult education. There is no doubt that because it has not been a stand-alone sector, further education and training has been the Cinderella of the Irish education system. This is why it is important that so much reform is being done at present to give the sector greater status and allow more strategic planning. This is part of the broader package of bringing together the work of FÁS and the VECs, achieving more co-ordination in the sector and implementing a strategy for the future. There is much potential to reduce duplication of courses and ensure much better planning for the future. We very much support the Bill in principle.

There is need for reform in terms of streamlining provision, addressing duplication and ensuring the courses we provide are not only those which are needed now but also those which will enable us to meet foreseeable needs in ten or 20 years' time, in as much as this can be done. The world is changing very much, particularly from a technological point of view, and often it is difficult to foresee where the jobs will be in five or ten years' time. There is no doubt that in general, our education system has been quite slow at responding to emerging needs. We can see a skills gap exists at present, particularly with regard to IT and language jobs. It is crazy that although 430,000 people are on the live register, half of the jobs announced by companies are filled by people from overseas because they cannot get IT staff in this country with the required language skills to be able to serve the global market. It is great that firms locate their head offices here, but it is a shame more Irish people are not able to take up these opportunities. Major opportunities exist in this regard for the further education sector because quite practical short courses can be used by people with IT skills to obtain language add-ons. These can be delivered in a way that fits around their work through part-time courses.

I do not think the Minister mentioned online learning, although I know it being examined in the broader scheme of things. I hope, however, that in the strategic planning for the sector there will be more focus on online learning. Obviously, such learning is not for everyone, but this such a diverse sector that one is talking about people who will need basic literacy programmes right up to sophisticated courses. In general, however, there is so much potential in that online space that we should be seeking to maximise it throughout education. That should therefore be part of the strategic planning for the sector.

I will have a couple of aspects to raise with the Minister on Committee Stage. Some interest groups have raised with me the question of learner representation. I know that there are community and parent representatives on the education and training boards but not learner representatives specifically. I would like to tease that matter through more with the Minister. We have had a good debate in the House on quality assurance legislation in general and the Minister accepted an amendment I tabled to have more student representation on the new body for third level colleges. Everything we do needs to be driven by quality assurance that is informed by learner involvement, right across the system from school to third level and adult education. I can see a case for having specific learner representatives on the education and training boards to ensure that those voices are heard and that courses will be responsive to learners' needs.

We support the Bill, including the general reform programme that is going on in the further education sector. I acknowledge the priority that the Minister has given to it. It would be remiss of me, however, not to voice concerns that while this is great legislation, it is important to have plans. We must ensure that we have the necessary resources in these sectors. Concerns have been expressed about cuts in the pupil teacher ratio as announced in the last budget. This particularly concerns some of the large colleges and other providers. Marino College has been in touch with me to say that the cut will jeopardise some courses. On the other hand, the Government is pleading with them to offer courses which are needed to upskill people to re-enter the employment market. Where is the coherence there? It is great to have the words and the legislation, but we also need to have the necessary resources.