Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh mo chara, an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Rabbitte. Gabhaim buíochas léi as an ábhar seo a ghlacadh ar son an Aire Oideachais. I endorse the remarks of my colleague, Senator Dooley, about the importance of designating family carers as key workers. I know that the Minister of State is very passionate about doing this as well.

I am raising the issue of higher education funding. This country's economic success and many of its social developments have been built on the fact that we have a highly educated citizenry and workforce. If we look at some of the statistics, we will see that other countries are almost jealous of us because a majority of people in their 20s and 30s in this country are graduates. This year, approximately 50,000 new entrants will go into our higher education institutions and approximately 70,000 graduates at different levels will come out of them. We have nearly 200,000 people studying at undergraduate level in this country, as well as 45,000 postgraduate students. These are statistics to be celebrated.The problem has been chronic underfunding. As we continue to expand the system and provide more opportunities, and the technological changes we will face over the next decade mean there will be greater demands on us to upskill and reskill, we need a higher education system that is fit for purpose and is adequately funded. No one should be in any doubt about the challenge of some of those costs. Part of the problem has been that despite the continued dramatic increase in numbers over the last decade, the level of public funding until recently has continued to be cut. This year, we are finally beginning to see additional investment in the area. I asked about the full economic cost and how much it costs in every case, so that we get an idea of the scale. I understand the estimate is around €8,000 to €10,000. We need to provide that sum every year to ensure we can provide more of the quality graduates for which this country is well known and we need to have the capital and research investment, particularly in the emerging technological university sector.

Five years ago this month the Cassells report was published. In many ways, it did not tell us anything that we did not already know. The problem has been that the can of university funding has continued to be kicked down the road since then. It was sent to a joint committee, views were sought from Europe and there were various reports, none of which told us anything different. Cassells outlined the three possible models to funding our higher education system. I favour a publicly funded system for the most part, that we, as a State, should invest in our future because education is what matters. A potentially big achievement of this Government, and it resulted from Fianna Fáil input into the programme for Government, is the creation of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. That is not just an administrative Department; it has to drive Ireland's economic and social development and our recovery coming out of this Covid period but that can only be done if we have a properly funded system.

The Minister, Deputy Harris, said the time for reports is over. We need to make a decision now. We need to ensure we have a proper, publicly funded higher education system and that it is fit for purpose to be able to meet the technological changes we are going to face over the next decade.