Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the Minister back to the House this afternoon. I extend the good wishes of the Labour group to the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, and wish him a speedy recovery. I also welcome the representatives of NALA who are here today. I commend the Minister on ensuring that there will be a learner representative and for accepting the recommendations to include a learner on the board of SOLAS.

The Government is committed to reform of our public services and to delivering an overall better public service. This Bill seeks to reform how further education and training are delivered to thousands of people within the community and to ensure our education and training programmes are fit for purpose. In order to see through such reform we have to embrace change. We all know that there has been duplication across this service for many years and taxpayers have not been getting best value for money. There are currently 9,000 staff employed in centres offering over 270,000 places to learners on full-time, part-time, formal and informal courses. The investment total in agencies across the country is approximately €900 million at present. FÁS alone provides 81,500 market-led and client-focused training interventions for unemployed people, with a total investment of €420 million. These agencies and staff provide a key service in their communities and the aim of this Bill is to make this service run more efficiently—as we need now it more than ever. The establishment of the new training and education authority, SOLAS, which this Bill proposes, will see a major transfer of responsibilities and the running of a more efficient service. SOLAS will be responsible for commissioning and funding the delivery of the service from the 16 new education and training boards, which, in turn, will replace the 33 existing VECs. The 16 new boards will be responsible for the planning and delivery of all vocational training and further education in their regions and SOLAS will have the freedom to commission private sector providers as deemed appropriate. I believe the provisions in this Bill will give an identity to the further education and training sector.

As in all areas of education the student should be at the centre of the process. I again commend the Minister on referring to this in his speech. With so many providers and programmes, quality control and student-led learning have been an issue. Having some experience of Youthreach courses I am very aware of the need to provide interesting and useful courses instead of the 'gap-fillers' which existed down through the years, courses that were designed to suit the qualifications of the teacher rather than the interests of the students. Many of the students attending Youthreach or other courses needed the added incentive to be kept in education and kept interested. SOLAS will have a role in auditing and quality-assuring the programmes that are delivered and will have the task of ensuring that teachers and trainers undergo continuous professional development of which I am a major supporter. Another core part of SOLAS's role will be to ensure the referral of jobseekers to appropriate courses, and therefore the inclusion of a guidance service will be extremely important. SOLAS will also have the function of consulting the Department of Social Protection and employers to determine the types of education and training programmes to be funded by the authority and delivered to the public. It is imperative that learners are the focus and that we provide them with the best possible programmes to aid them in their future prospects. I welcome the recognition that the learner-centred approach is fundamental to providing the best experience. We should not forget why we are teaching and training: it is not to put forward what we think is important but what the learner finds important. This can be seen most recently in the report of the EU high-level group, chaired by former President McAleese, that was published this week. This group has recognised the importance of a student-centred approach in third level education and I am delighted that we are also adopting a similar approach in the further education and training sector. I believe these functions of SOLAS will greatly aid in the experience of the learners and hopefully will positively impact on their employment outcomes.

That SOLAS has wide ranging functions is welcome and needed. Not only will it be involved in shaping the training and programmes presented but it will also have the function of ensuring efficiency of the service, which to date has been lacking. It will promote co-operation between bodies involved in the provision of further education programmes. It will also be able to assess whether training boards perform their functions in an economically efficient and effective manner, which is key at a time when every cent counts. It will also have the power to conduct research relating to its own functions. I believe this new umbrella body will ensure that taxpayers' money is handled efficiently and that a useful and comprehensive service is delivered to those seeking employment and looking to upskill.

While I have outlined many of the positives that this Bill, specifically the implementation of SOLAS, brings to the table, challenges do exist and will need to be addressed. One major challenge for the immediate future will be the differing terms and conditions of employment of teachers in further education services and those of FÁS trainers. I have received representations from people who are in this position so I would appreciate if the Minister would comment further on this. I know that annual leave is also an issue due to the fact that courses run by FÁS, Youthreach and SOLAS are to be run year-round whereas school terms are shorter. The task of integration will not be easy but I believe it will be worth it.

I hope that SOLAS and the further education and training sector will be able to lead the charge in providing the appropriate courses to meet the demands of some of Ireland's emerging sectors such as technology, foreign languages, engineering and many more. We constantly hear of the need for more upskilling in these key areas and my hope is that we will begin meeting the needs of these international investors in the very near future through new, existing and revised courses and programmes. I would like to look further into the future and point to the need for our further education and training sector to recognise the emerging employment fields. In ten years' time we do not want to be playing catch-up, having been left behind. In ten years' time, we should be able to meet the needs of the emerging fields of employment and be able to supply them with well-skilled and educated individuals who will be immediately able to meet that employment need.

The further education and training sector has been crying out for reform for many years. There is no doubt that excellent work is being done by passionate and dedicated people in the VECs, FÁS training units, colleges of further education and so on. I would like to pay tribute also to the current CEO of Louth VEC, Dr. Pádraig Kirk, who will take over as CEO with responsibility for the junior cycle, and I wish him well in that role. The Further Education and Training Bill will most importantly place learners at the heart of the process. That may be my former role as a teacher coming out in me but that is what we need to keep in mind. This will ensure that learners are empowered to access the courses they need and that they can progress through the system and achieve their goals.

I commend the work done by Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, and the Department on the implementation of the greatest change to further education in more than 70 years and the greatest change in the training sector since FÁS was established more than 25 years ago. I commend the Bill.