Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the House on Second Stage of the Further Education and Training Bill 2013. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Cannon, a former Member of this House, who would otherwise have taken the Bill as he took it through the Dáil, is unwell. I spoke to him today and he indicated that he is making a recovery. He would have liked to have been here but I take the Bill on his behalf. I will probably take it right through the session as Deputy Cannon will not be back with us for a week or so. I will begin by briefly outlining the background and context for the creation of this legislation. Senators will already be aware of some of this background having dealt with the Education and Training Boards Act which provides for the restructuring of our VEC set-up into 16 new education and training boards. The boards will be formally established on 1 July 2013.

The scale of the unemployment crisis which has hit Ireland in recent years is without precedent. Many people have lost jobs in the construction, manufacturing and other domestic sectors of the economy where employment levels are unlikely, sadly, to return to pre-recession levels. Unemployment can have a devastating effect, not just on a person's earning capacity, but on his or her emotional state and ability and desire to participate in society. In particular, the troubling phenomenon of youth unemployment has returned to our country. Against this bleak backdrop, we must look towards a better future. The actions of the Government are inspired by such ambition. I want Ireland to be recognised as a fair, inclusive and equal society supported by a productive and prosperous economy. In the difficult economic circumstances in which we operate, that is not an easy goal. However, it is one I hope we can realise over time.

The Government must prove to the Irish people that it has credible answers for dealing with the immediate crisis and that it has a vision for the future. The Government must demonstrate its ability to create more jobs, grow the economy, improve living standards and build a brighter future for our children. Our politics must be about improving the lives of our people. Since March 2011, we have introduced a series of measures, including an off-balance sheet stimulus package and new training and work programmes to help the unemployed. I am and will continue to be a strong advocate within the Government for continuing investment in education. Mine is not a lone voice. It is joined by many Senators, which I very much welcome. While I will protect education to the greatest extent possible, our ambitions must be broader than that. Therefore, I have put the reform of the structures and quality of our education system at the top of my agenda as Minister.

The legislation before the House today is part of a necessary restructuring of the further education and training sector. It has been recognised that the further education and training sector - the FET sector - has grown in an un­co-ordinated way without strategic direction over many years. VECs have traditionally delivered further education while FÁS has delivered training. As Ireland strives to restore its economic well-being, it is crucial that we ensure the social investment we are making in education is relevant to people's needs and helps assist our economic recovery. The State has a fundamental role in addressing this challenge. There is now a particular need to respond with measures that provide clear and purposeful pathways to employment or to further and higher education and training. In 2012, the Government published Pathways to Work, a blueprint to increase the employability of jobseekers and encourage them to be more active in their efforts to find work. As part of its commitment, the Government has decided to radically reform and restructure the further education and training system to encourage a restoration of public confidence. It must provide courses that are particularly relevant to the needs of school-leavers and the unemployed and that help people to develop as we recover from the economic and social crisis of recent years.

Last year, the Department invested over €900 million in the provision further education and training. A wide range of programmes are on offer which serve a variety of purposes for diverse groups of learners. However, many people are unaware of the opportunities available in the sector. It is very difficult for an individual to find out what courses are available, where they are on and whether a new qualification is what employers are actually looking for. It is a huge issue for the many unemployed people who are seeking support from our further education system. One reason for the lack of public awareness is that programmes are currently provided by so many different organisations, including FÁS, VECs, community groups, second-level schools and private bodies. Programmes have grown organically over the past few decades, too often in an unco-ordinated fashion. Remarkably, there is no single database or universal calendar covering the range of courses on offer in our further education system. We cannot expect people to get the most out of our system if they cannot get a good overview of what services are available. This has to change. There is an urgent need to bring coherence to a fragmented system and to create an integrated sector delivering high quality programmes.

There is also a need to ensure we deliver programmes that are relevant to the needs of both learners and the economy. It is not just a question of addressing the skills of teachers in the system. We want people to have access to courses and services which actually help them leave unemployment rather than just occupy their time. That is why the Government has decided to establish SOLAS and to bring this legislation before the Oireachtas. SOLAS will be to the further education and training sector what the HEA is to higher education. Let me be very clear about what SOLAS will and will not do. SOLAS will not simply be a rebranded FÁS. SOLAS will put the existing FÁS training centres under the remit of the 16 new education and training boards, which are replacing the 33 vocational education committees. SOLAS will not be delivering courses on the ground. That will be done by the 16 new education and training boards and other providers, including the institutes of technology. Just as there is no single designated HEA institution offering courses, SOLAS will co-ordinate courses which will be delivered by separate providers.

SOLAS will lead the process of making the further education and training sector a distinct one. For the first time ever, we will be able to measure both the inputs and outputs of the €900 million investment we make each year in further education and training. I want to ensure that the unemployed, particularly the long-term jobless, are prioritised for support. I also want to bring about a revitalised further education and training sector that is fit for purpose for all learners who wish to avail of programmes, including the unemployed and employed, school leavers, including early school leavers, those with disabilities and those who want to pursue particular interests through part-time learning. SOLAS will bring a much needed focus to this part of our education system for the first time.

We do not want to throw out the baby with the bath water. I have already referred to the legislation providing for the reduction of the current 33 VECs to 16 education and training boards. The Education and Training Boards Act 2013 was enacted on 8 May 2013 to provide for the establishment of education and training boards and the dissolution of vocational education committees. The new boards are to be established on 1 July 2013. We want SOLAS to work with education and training boards and other service providers to harness what is good about our further education and training system and make it even better.

We must ensure that we listen to learners and staff and use their valuable input appropriately in making decisions.

We all know that the FÁS brand has been badly damaged in recent years. The corporate governance failures exposed in FÁS dealt a serious blow to the organisation's credibility with the public. That is why the Bill will repeal the legislation underpinning FÁS and replace it with a new agency.

Much of the good work done by FÁS staff on the ground was overshadowed by the actions of a small minority at the top. In many respects, the failings in FÁS at the height of the Celtic tiger were symptomatic of the corporate governance failures throughout Irish society. However, there are many examples of the positive achievements of FÁS to which I pay tribute. For instance, the performance of our apprentices in international competitions exemplifies some of the excellent work done by FÁS. I am also aware of the excellent work done by the current board of FÁS in successfully addressing many of the governance issues that generated adverse public controversy and serious reputational damage in recent years. The work of the board to restore the fortunes of FÁS has helped to pave the way for the forthcoming transfer of functions from FÁS to the education and training boards, ETBs, and the establishment of SOLAS. I am genuinely thankful for the commendable public service the board and the chairman have given since 2010.

SOLAS will be a different type of organisation from FÁS. It will be an oversight, advisory and funding organisation with a completely different mandate from that of FÁS and, notwithstanding the excellent work done to date, it is appropriate for the Oireachtas to disband FÁS and task SOLAS with driving a new chapter in the sector. Together with the restructuring and streamlining of the VEC system, this represents, possibly, the most significant change in the training sector in over 70 years and the most significant change in it since the establishment of FÁS over 25 years ago. SOLAS will be tasked with ensuring the provision of 21st century high quality further education and training programmes that are integrated, flexible, represent value for money and are responsive to the needs of learners and the requirements of a changed and changing economy. One of its key tasks will be the development and implementation of a national five year strategy for the further education and training sector.

I am acutely aware of the barriers posed by illiteracy and innumeracy for so many in our society. This is one of the major policy challenges I have prioritised as Minister for Education and Skills and one I would like SOLAS to pay particular attention to. In the past I raised with FÁS literacy and numeracy issues and the difficulty people had in accessing training and remaining in training programmes. The response from FÁS officials was that it was not their problem. Not everyone learns to read at the same age and not everyone gets a second chance. In most armies with conscription in Europe the period after the war provided many young men, as it was in those days, with a second chance. They learned to read and write as adults because the skill had not been picked up in coming through the school system. I am acutely aware of this and have an interest in it because of that experience. SOLAS must act as a filter for those coming through the system to ensure they have basic literacy and numeracy skills.

During the discussion on Committee Stage in the other House Deputies put forward useful suggestions with regard to the literacy and numeracy strategy. Many of the suggestions were prompted by community education and other interest groups and I am pleased to say they have been addressed in the Bill. The Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, who has led on various stages of this legislation met the relevant Oireachtas committee in formal session and a follow-up informal meeting. As a result, we have been able to address all concerns in a constructive and positive manner. Issues raised include consultation with community interests and learners in the devising of the further education and training, FET, strategy by SOLAS, the inclusion of a focus on the development of a literacy and numeracy programme as part of the overall strategy, the inclusion of a learner representative in the board of SOLAS and the promotion of equality of opportunity in further education as a core function of SOLAS. While this may seem like an abstract aspiration to some, it is important for the Oireachtas to give SOLAS an ethos that will guide its behaviour and actions. The development of the FET strategy will involve consultation with the key stakeholders such as the ETBs and other providers of further education and training, including the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; Intreo, the new labour market activation office of the Department of Social Protection; Enterprise Ireland; the HEA; and other bodies, as appropriate, including the addition of consultation with the other interests I have mentioned.

SOLAS will not deliver programmes once the restructuring is complete. Its key function will be to provide strategic oversight and funding for the main deliverers - the ETBs and, where appropriate, the private sector and others. However, it will maintain the delivery of FÁS services, pending the completion of the transfer of the FÁS training divisions and centres to the ETBs. It will also monitor the outputs and outcomes of the programmes to ensure they are relevant and delivered in an efficient and effective manner.

I will now outline the provisions of the Bill. Its purpose is to give effect to the Government's decision to establish a further education and training authority called An tSeirbhís Oideachais Leanúnaigh agus Scileanna which was carefully constructed in order that we ended up with the acronym SOLAS, under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills.