Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleague, Senator Kyne, in congratulating the Minister of State and the Minister on their appointments. This is a relatively short piece of legislation but a very important one in that it establishes what I regard as a key Department for the planning of the future of this country. It represents a real opportunity. Much of what the Government does is firefighting, but this is a chance for a Government Department to focus on long-term, evidence-based policymaking, to prepare Ireland for the convergence of new technologies we are experiencing and to ensure that Ireland is equipped for the big challenges, such as ageing, which Senator Kyne mentioned, but also climate change and other areas.The Minister of State will be aware that this was a centrepiece of the Fianna Fáil manifesto and something we sought to ensure would happen as part of the programme for Government. The party and the Government are very committed to it.

Our challenge as a society is to ensure that our citizens are prepared for whatever challenges will face us over the coming years, that we are prepared to deal with the fallout from Covid-19 and that we can deal with the technological change and issues such as climate change. It is therefore essential that we base our decisions on research and evidence-based policy, and this Department has a role in driving that. One of the other key elements is innovation, and the fact that that word will be included in the title of the Department is very important. We have to look at being able to support not only companies but also social enterprise to be innovative here. I refer in particular to small organisations and spin-outs from higher educational institutions. We must allow them to be able to scale up.

Essential coming out of the Covid-19 crisis, when we have dealt with the public health challenges, is that we then move on. The July stimulus package announced today was very welcome. However, there will, unfortunately, be people who will not be able to go back to work because the jobs that were there before will no longer be there. It is absolutely essential, therefore, that we invest in a big way in upskilling and reskilling those citizens. As Senator Kyne mentioned, the Springboard programme has been enormously successful. It helped us to deal with some of the challenges we faced during the global financial crisis and the downturn that emerged from it a decade ago. It can now be repurposed to address some of those challenges, along with the human capital initiative.

What Covid-19 has also shown is that things we did not think necessarily possible or which we thought would take a lot longer, especially in education, have come about much more quickly than we would have expected. The move towards online, blended and distance learning and the pace at which that was taken on board was phenomenal. We will have to look not only at how we can use the fact that people have adapted to that but also at new technologies coming down the line in augmented reality and virtual reality and how they will change the education experience. This will also mean - and this is a challenge for further and higher education - changes in the nature by which we deliver education. In addition, we will see far more short online programmes being delivered, and we must ensure the quality and accreditation of those. Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, has been looking at this issue and there has to be support in this area.

I wish to raise with the Minister of State a number of specific challenges I see for the new Department and issues I think will be important to address. The proposed university for the south east and the move towards technological universities are important questions we have already raised. A cross-party group of Oireachtas Members will meet the institutes of technology in Carlow and Waterford on Monday. We hope the institutes will lodge their applications for university status on Monday. If not, we would like a guarantee that action will be taken by the Department and that there will be external intervention.

It is key that this new Department is learner-focused. I believe that the engagement with USI and Aontas right throughout the Minister of State's and the Minister's period in office will be key. The education sector responded to Covid-19 with informal fora. It will be really important for the Department to continue that, such that there is engagement with all the stakeholders in further and higher education, research and innovation and science over the period. I agree with Senator Kyne on the approach to research. We cannot overestimate the importance of blue-sky research. If there is one criticism I have of Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, which does great work, it is that too much of its time is spent focusing on applied research.We need to look at ways blue sky research can be incentivised. The point has been made that this is not just in science. This is in the humanities and social sciences as well and there must be adequate support for doctoral candidates and postgraduate researchers. I agree with Senator Kyne that a strong message must be sent that the Government chief scientific adviser has to be a stand-alone office and completely different from the senior person in Science Foundation Ireland. I would like a guarantee on that.

I know the Minister of State is committed to accessibility. Access must be a hallmark of this Department. That includes ensuring that traditionally under-represented groups, such as people from areas of socioeconomic disadvantage, the travelling community and persons with a disability, have opportunities to acquire skills. The further education and training strategy published last week is very welcome. We need to equality-proof all of our strategies in the further education area. People will engage in learning throughout their lives because of the need to upskill.

With regard to the ageing challenge which Senator Kyne mentioned, one in five teenagers today will live to the age of 100 and one in three babies born this year will live to 100. That presents all sorts of research challenges for society and it means we will be constantly learning to adapt. The economic challenge for the future will be about a war on talent. I ask the Department to look at the visa regime to determine how we can bring in more researchers and attract entrepreneurs to this country. We must not forget the creative sector either. It is also essential, in a post-Brexit environment, to look at how we can encourage North-South co-operation and continue the useful partnerships with higher education institutions across the water.

The sustainability of the higher education sector needs to be addressed. The Cassells report led to a whole series of other reports being kicked down the road. I ask that the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Harris, do not continue to kick the funding issue down the road.

There are so many opportunities with this new Department. It offers us an opportunity to shape a vision for a future Ireland. I realise many issues will be raised in this debate. The main thing I encourage the Ministers to do with this new Department is to be ambitious.