Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)

I thank the Minister for being here. It is good to have him, and he is welcome. We have talked about higher education. I want to talk about the human aspect of it and lives that have been transformed, challenged and shaped through higher education in our country. I believe our universities are more than lecture halls and libraries. They are places where ambition meets access and where the next generation of Irish citizens is formed. I was elected by the graduates of Trinity College, which itself is a cornerstone of intellectual life and a symbol of what can be achieved when education is allowed to flourish. Trinity has produced leaders in science, business and politics. Last week, I was there with the Minister to launch the strategic review. I was sitting in the exam hall. He was an undergraduate, then a postgraduate and now is a Minister in the hall where he was no doubt nervous doing his exams in the first place. It shows the potential of what entities and institutions like Trinity College can do. It has an outreach programme called the Trinity Access Programme, with which I am familiar through my homeless work. It has a commitment to inclusion and works not only to diversify the student body, but it opens doors for younger people in education. No matter what their background or bank balance is, their lives can change. That is the kind of Ireland we need to focus on, where a child from a disadvantaged community has the same equality and chance to succeed as a child of privilege. I know education remains one of the biggest divides in our society.

I will give an example of two guys the Minister met. They arrived at my homeless work in the Lighthouse a number of years ago looking for help. They had no education. They had no level of education. We got them into a college in Dublin to do a level 5. Unfortunately, they were living rough, so they were studying in McDonald's and they both failed the level 5. They had to repeat the whole year. I asked their permission to ring their lecturer, and they allowed me. I rang the lecturer and told her these people were living in adverse circumstances. I asked if it was possible for them to be allowed to repeat the module rather than the full year. I knew that if they were repeating the year we would have lost them. She said that if they cannot stand the heat they should not be in the kitchen. I went onto LinkedIn and found Dr. Joe Collins in South East Technological University and told him the story. I said that these guys could kick the ball out of the park if given the opportunity. He put a challenge to me and said he would back their education and give them a chance if I could try to get them accommodation. I did my part, and we got them accommodation. The two guys went and did their degree. They did their Masters degrees, they did a second Masters degree and were awarded an academic excellence award by the previous Minister for Education. It showed me that opportunity in education can transform lives. One of those guys recently bought a house. Nobody can afford houses anymore, but this guy did. It showed that education has transformed his life. That is the power of education and belief. It is also the power of the other supports necessary.

My colleagues mentioned rent for students and supported grants. It is impossible to get accommodation as a worker, never mind as a student. We are pricing people out of education, not through education alone, but through the likes of supported housing initiatives. Even if you look at the Funding the Future report it highlights a serious shortfall in core funding for our institutions. We need to look at that, but we need to look at supporting the individuals. That is the true measure of where education can make a difference in lives changed and not just in numbers published. At the Trinity event the provost spoke about the huge shortfall in its own funding. In order for institutions to be supported to take in students from disadvantaged backgrounds we need to focus on that. We have amazing institutions in Ireland like UCG, UL or DCU and all the way along. They should be places where young people like those I have mentioned should not only dream of education, but where they can take advantage of it.

I am confident the Minister has a vision, and I am confident he will bring it to pass. Education is one of the greatest equalisers and we need the barriers for people who have been in generations of poverty to be lifted. We need to make sure it continues, and I thank the Minister for his support of what we are doing in the homeless community.