Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I say to Senator Mullen that the old times have not gone away, you know. He too could be part of the good times as well.

The Minister of State's legacy in politics will be defined by this challenge. He has a great opportunity to leave an imprint on the social dividend of our country. Senator Ruane has been a huge exponent and deserves not patronising accolades but real, meaningful thanks for the way she has told us all through her life that we can aspire to be who we are, as Maslow says. That is what this is about today. To me this is about giving young people and not so young people that opportunity to reimagine. I always go back to when I was a director of adult education. People had an opportunity to come back in to take a course in Spanish, French or basic mathematics, or to do the leaving certificate again.That was a passport to a college or a higher education FETAC award. We are trying to give people an opportunity.

In his report, Mr. Cassells mentioned the three options that we have for funding, and we must tackle the issue of funding at third level. However, continuing education also needs to be reimagined, redeveloped and recalibrated so that we can give people opportunities. We once had the applied leaving certificate and it was branded an horrific addendum to education. I taught social studies to applied leaving certificate students for almost ten years. It was the best thing we did in second level education because it gave education and opportunity to a cohort of students who would otherwise have been lost. This Bill is about opportunity. I wish the Minister of State well.