Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate that it is not his portfolio, but the commitment is welcome. It is notable that, as he said, the €307 million the Minister has referred to is about addressing current challenges around core funding, rather than dealing with future challenges. That is why it is essential that if the additional places in further and higher education are created, we have to make sure every single one is funded sustainably. We cannot continue to say that we have solved the problems of the past with a sticking plaster and then create more problems.

As the Minister of State knows, the problems are not just demographic. Some reports have suggested that because of the convergence of new technologies, within the next decade 65% of current jobs will either be redundant or significantly change and, as a result, we will all need to upskill and reskill. There is a major role for our further and higher education systems to address that. We have to be radical. The model we use has to be sustainable. I would like the Minister of State to take the message back to the Minister that if he is creating 1,000 additional higher education places, as well as places in further education, that is all very welcome, but they must be funded into the long term.