Mr. Colm Markey:

I thank the Senator very much for the questions, which I think were very appropriate. For one thing, she made reference to the LEADER programme and development work in that area. As a former chair of a LEADER company for four years, I fully appreciate the role that LEADER companies play in both economic and community development in rural areas. I would, therefore, be very supportive of any investment in that whole space.

I will pick up on the apprenticeship piece, on which I know Ms Walsh is very strong as well. As someone who did not have the benefit of a third level university education, I place enormous value in the vocational educational system and on apprenticeships in terms of what they do for people who are not necessarily academic but are no less intelligent. The system as we have it is very judgmental and disparaging towards people who do not go to third level education. It is something we need to address.

One thing that I always point out, which is very central to this issue, is that we should look at the amount of people in society today who started with an apprenticeship and run their own businesses. They are some of the best entrepreneurs we have the length and breadth of the country, from the one-man van to the people who have more. I deal with a couple of guys, one of whom is an electrician with 80 vans on the road. That fellow started with an apprenticeship. We have absolutely no respect for that type of education and where people can go from there. We need to change that fundamentally.

The Senator mentioned Macra na Feirme and rural Ireland. To carry on the same theme, there are so many people in rural Ireland who do not necessarily go to third level university education. I have always looked on organisations like Macra na Feirme as the clubs and societies of universities for people in rural areas. In terms of the potential to sustain, support and give opportunities to young people in rural areas, organisations like Macra na Feirme are vital.