Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to have the Minister of State with special responsibility for defence before the House. A battalion will be deployed to Lebanon in two and a half weeks’ time. I have just received news that the commanding officer of the battalion has resigned to take up a job in the private sector. I do not know how we will send a battalion to Lebanon which has been training for several weeks under the command of this officer. I do not know where we will find a lieutenant colonel to take over a battalion at such short notice. Most of those at the rank of lieutenant colonel would be married men or women with family commitments which need to be organised before they could leave the country for six months. I understand this resignation has come as quite a shock to the Department of Defence. We need to know where we are going with this. I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business.

I welcome much of what came in the budget yesterday for education. The appointment of new teachers is to be welcomed. The Leader, as a teacher, will know that there is some concern that these jobs will be subdivided into part-hours for teachers, however. Instead of giving a full contract to a teacher, we will find three teachers appointed for every teacher the Government intended to appoint. I hope the Minister for Education and Skills will come to the House to discuss the issues which arise from the budget with respect to education.

The €190 million which has been provided for further and higher education is to be welcomed. However, we should listen to the Provost of Trinity College Dublin and various other college presidents. Ireland is falling behind in third level education ratings around the world. I realise there is a significant draw on Government funds all of the time. We need to find a way of investing in third level education at a much higher level. We need to see greater research. The budget provided money for research, which is to be welcomed. However, we need to ensure our higher education sector is funded properly in order to compete on the world stage.

The Leader has some feelings about the further education sector. Apprenticeships need to develop to the stage where they achieve parity of esteem with bachelor degrees. People spend five years of their lives training for vocational occupations. They should be held in the same esteem as those who attend university. It behoves all of us to work towards that. It is a point the Government can assist on by putting further funding into further education.