Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister of State wants to disagree with that fact, he is welcome to do so. This is a democracy, after all.

The further education and training sector provides an important educational pathway for unemployed, disadvantaged learners and second chance learners to access specialist labour-focused courses and to secure employment. During the debate on the legislation that established the ETBs, I stated my firm belief that this is one of the most important sectors of our education system. I paid tribute to all of the personnel working in that system, particularly those in the further education and training sector. It is an area with which I am familiar and I am proud to have been associated with it for many years, having worked for the County Cavan Vocational Education Committee, VEC. As the Minister of State mentioned, the 33 VECs became 16 ETBs on 1 July of last year with responsibility for providing primary, post-primary, further education and, importantly, training for their jurisdictions.

I commend everyone who has contributed to this debate, particularly Senator Jim D'Arcy, who said everything that I wanted to say. I am aware from the Minister of State's speech that some of the training centres have been given over to a number of ETBs, with 12 still to be transferred. However, the Cavan and Monaghan ETB in my area of the north east has been given no resources to provide training.

I firmly believe that the board is entitled to the necessary budget and personnel to provide training in its area. If we are going to dismantle FÁS and establish SOLAS then we should do it right and I agree with Senator Jim D'Arcy in this regard. Senator Moran referred to the matter in her contribution as well. The education and training boards charged with the responsibility to provide training should be given the necessary personnel and resources. Otherwise, we will end up with the former FÁS training centres remaining as FÁS training centres, albeit under a different name. I wish to alert the Minister of State to the fact that our education and trading board will be demanding the budget and the personnel to which we are entitled under the legislation. Senator D'Arcy pointed to the fact that joint service agreements can be signed. However, I put it to the Minister of State that the Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board will not be signing any agreements with any other education and training board. I am not mentioning the other four because I am not aware of their attitude to this. Anyway, we will provide our own training in our area. We are entitled to the budget and we will demand it.

Reference was made to apprenticeships and I agree with the sentiments of many speakers in the House this afternoon in respect of how vocational education and apprenticeships run hand-in-hand. The vocational end has worked successfully and I am very familiar with it in respect of Youthreach trainees who have progressed to pre-apprenticeship training. The vocational and apprenticeship elements worked hand-in-hand and were successful in this area.

Senator Barrett referred to Neven Maguire, who is a proud west Cavan man. Rightly, he would not be entitled or qualified to teach in some of these institutions but he is an excellent instructor in his art. He is opening a culinary college in County Cavan in the near future and we wish him the best of luck.

I cannot emphasise strongly enough that we will be demanding that education and training boards are provided with proper funding and personnel to carry out the training that they are mandated to carry out under the Act.