Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus roimh an Bille seo. Ach an oiread le gach duine eile, ba mhaith liom mo bheannachtaí a chur chuig an Aire Stáit, Deputy Cannon, mo chomhghleacaí as Gaillimh. Tá súil agam nach fada go mbeidh sé ar ais i mbarr a mhaitheasa.

Sinn Féin is pleased to support the Bill. Too often, political debate in the Oireachtas is divisive and unproductive. Government Ministers, more often than not, are unwilling to take on board constructive proposals from Opposition Deputies and Senators. When Ministers break with that approach, as Minister Quinn did with this Bill, they are to be commended.

The legislation is progressive and will be instrumental in shaping the future direction of the further education and training sector for years to come. I hope that the establishment of SOLAS, under the Further Education and Training Bill, will bring closure to one of the worst scandals to arise from the workings of a State body since the formation of the State. The scandalous misuse of funds and expenditure in FÁS dated back to 2004 and was common in the higher echelons of the organisation. Spending controls were routinely bypassed and there was a serious failure to provide good corporate governance.

In some of the most appalling examples of unaccountability in competence and wastage - characteristics of some of the worst excesses of the so-called Celtic tiger era - the activities of certain senior personnel in FÁS greatly undermined its capacity to discharge its duty. This all happened at a time when labour activation measures, through training and learning, were badly needed. The actions of certain personnel discredited an organisation that did a lot of good work to generate employment since its inception in the 1980s. During the period investigated the organisation spent almost €1 billion of taxpayers' money annually even though it was a time of full employment. It was a time of decadence and wastage. In 2011, when reviewing the extent of the scandal that became fully apparent in 2008, the OECD director of employment labelled the controversy as a national disaster.

I shall return to discussing the Bill. I wish to acknowledge the hard work done by both sides of the House during the Dáil Stages of the Bill. A lot of serious debate took place. As a result, today's Bill has been significantly improved even though it was already a good piece of legislation.

I am happy with the Bill's focus on adult learners and people with literacy difficulties. Sinn Féin has argued for the Bill to provide enhanced levels of support to marginalised learners who were least well served by the education and training systems in the past.

The Bill commits the current and future Governments to the promotion of equality of opportunity in further education and training. It ensures that there will be close consultation with learners and community education providers because there will be learner representation on the SOLAS board. It also ensures that SOLAS develops a strategy to promote and develop adult literacy and numeracy.

I welcome representatives from the National Adult Literacy Agency and AONTAS, the National Adult Learning Organisation. I pay tribute to both organisations for their input into the Bill since its first publication. Their contributions have proved invaluable. I commend the work done by both organisations and the work that they do in the community education sector.

When the Bill concluded in the Dáil, my party colleague and education spokesperson, Deputy Jonathan O'Brien, described it as a once in a lifetime opportunity for the State to raise adult literacy and numeracy levels. I commend the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, for taking on board the majority of the most important amendments tabled by Sinn Féin and others. Despite adult literacy being a top priority in further education and training since the publication of the White Paper in 2000, adult literacy and numeracy levels in Ireland are unacceptably poor. I hope that the enactment of the Bill will lead to a co-ordinated response at national level that will greatly improve matters and ensure there are enhanced opportunities for adult learners. Sinn Féin is happy to support the Bill and commends the Government on its open and inclusive approach to its passing.

I wish to make a brief comment on the Irish language. SOLAS does not come under the remit of the Official Languages Act or Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla at present. The organisation that must have such a scheme and I ask the Minister to table an amendment for same.

It is probably an oversight. I ask the Minister to take this on board and, if not, I will table an amendment on Committee Stage to this effect so that from its inception it will be covered by Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla. FÁS and the VECs have always done great work in Gaeltacht areas and the provision of courses through the Irish language has been a central part of their work. I hope this is a sign of how Oireachtas business will be conducted in the future. Tá suil agam go n-éireoidh go maith leis an mBille.