Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Quinn. It is great to have him with us. I also want to extend my good wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon. It has been wonderful to debate these issues with him in recent times. He has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to them. Like the rest of us, he is on a learning curve in this regard. I regret he is not with us today. I ask the Minister to tell him I enjoy his tweets as well.

It is great to have the Minister for Education and Skills here for the debate on this progressive Bill, which is part of the Minister's overall vision for reform. It is wonderful to have an opportunity to say a few words on it in his presence. We have all spoken on this issue in the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon. The Minister referred in his speech to the importance of social investment in this sector. It is great to hear about the relevance of such investment. The Minister's vision will be implemented when this Bill is enacted. We will have a strategic vision for this sector, the development of which has been somewhat ad hoc. As the Minister identified, for many years there has been a need for the delivery of coherent and high-quality training that is of relevance to the economy and also to learners. It is great to hear that too.

I suppose I could say I have prepared a happy speech. I am happy to say the Bill is a good and progressive one. I am delighted to see the changes that have been made to it since its initiation. I commend the Minister on his vision and the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, on his work. I commend the Department. I also commend my colleagues in the other House - the Minister referred to many of the amendments that were made on Committee Stage in that House - on their collective efforts in making the changes needed to make this Bill a truly transformative piece of legislation for the further education and training sector. I acknowledge the support of members of the National Adult Literacy Agency and the community education section of Aontas, with whom I have worked closely. I expect many others have benefited from their influence and the support they have given to lawmakers. It has been great to work in partnership with them on this legislation.

I wish to refer to some of the improvements that have been made. I raised a number of concerns when statements on further education and training were taken in this House in February. I said it seemed that the volunteering community in education was being sidelined in the proposed legislation. This concern, which was raised by others as well, has been addressed. I am particularly pleased that one of the functions of the new agency will be to promote an appreciation of the value of further education and training. As the Minister mentioned, the agency will also be responsible for promoting equality of opportunity in terms of access to the sector. I am thrilled that a reference to community education providers has been included in section 9 of the Bill. I know others who have worked in support of that sector will agree that the inclusion of those words in the Bill will send a powerful message to those providers about the value of their work.

I welcome representatives from the National Adult Literacy Agency, NALA, adult learners, individuals who are involved in adult learning programmes and who are present in the Visitors Gallery. One of them might be one of those whom the Minister appoints to the board. It is great to see that inclusion. It is right that this invaluable sector and adult learners will now be consulted by the new agency as they prepare the strategy. I hope that there will be deep consultation in that regard as the sector carries a wealth of expertise. Consultation involves asking people what they think, hearing what they say and incorporating that into the strategy or if what they say is not incorporated explaining why it is not. That is the kind of relevant consultation that I hope will take place. Policy makers must give serious weight in the Bill to a commitment to consult with adult learners and include them on the board.

While welcoming the inclusion of the community education sector I think we need to be careful that it is not undermined by wider changes within the significant reform process of further education and training. For example, we must ensure that the funding streams that affect the capacity of community education to provide important services are protected and that we invest in education in this manner. Senator Power also referred to this. The Minister might be willing to comment on that point. We know that on taking office the Minister made a commitment to a literacy and numeracy strategy. It is a striking improvement in the Bill that SOLAS will develop this strategy. I note that the section dealing with the strategy could be interpreted narrowly to cover adult literacy and numeracy provision at National Framework of Qualification levels 1 to 3 only. Having heard the Minister's speech I do not think that is what he means but could he perhaps clarify for the House that it can be interpreted more broadly to cover the embedding of relevant literacy and numeracy development across further education training systems and all programmes in the State from levels 1 to 6? I presume that it is the deliberate purpose of the literacy strategy to raise adult literacy and numeracy levels by working across all further education and training programmes such that if someone at level 4 needs some literacy and numeracy support he or she will receive it.

In 1997 OECD research found that one in four, approximately 500,000, Irish adults had problems with even the simplest literacy tests. I understand that in October it will publish follow-up results of that research for Ireland. I hope that will inform the development of the further education and training strategy. This legislation represents an effort to take an integrated approach to this vibrant and diverse sector, and caters for all the needs of adult learners. Given the Minister's and Minister of State, Deputy Cannon's openness to making this Bill strong I am hopeful that it will be as strong as possible and look forward to the development of the further education and training strategy and to continuing to engage with these issues.