I often talk about how education does not finish with the leaving certificate or junior certificate. It goes on and on. For many people it is a fantastic thing that they engage with on a regular basis, well past the need for qualifications or the skills for work. It is because they really love engaging in education. It is fantastic that, in this country, we have so many options open to people. I am surprised to see there is such an amount available that should have been used for the purposes it was set out for in the first place. However, I welcome that it will go towards capital expenditure because, as we spoke about this morning, if we go around the country there are buildings and centres that have needed upgrading for decades. They have faulty windows, leaky roofs and are desperately in need of a retrofit or two. They also have outdated furniture and outdated materials. When I go to primary schools, I will see the fantastic amount of technology they have such as interactive boards. We should have that in community training, Youthreach and adult education centres, where people learn for their apprenticeships. We should have that level of technology there as well. It would be really welcome to have those there. This should be the time we do this once and manage this fund correctly, so we do not have to do it again because we are going to invest the capital, so we are then able to invest in the learners and those trainers and teachers. Youthreach is such an effective way of engaging young people. There are two parts to it. There are those young people who come from mainstream, and it may not have been as successful as they would have liked. They then go to Youthreach and do QQI level 3 and 4. There is also Youthreach for level 5 and 6. They are being trained to go into customer service employment in the future and they are learning in an environment that is inclusive, flexible and learner-centred. It is so successful for those young people because of the way they teach there and because of the atmosphere. I am sure anyone here who has been to a Youthreach centre will know how fantastic they are. These centres also have fantastic forward-facing programmes. I was involved in one in Ballymun, which got a 3D printer that was fantastic. Can that be rolled out? At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the other day, we discussed a course being run in near Dundalk in Louth where they have robotics. When we have training courses there we can entice young people who may not have had a great time in mainstream education into a Youthreach centre to do those courses so they can go on further and rediscover their love of learning. I also spoke this morning about community training centres. I am sorry if I am repeating myself, but Deputies know I am very passionate about community training centres from my involvement with them. The courses they have are run on a shoestring as are Youthreach centres. They are not able to do all the things they would like to do. They are being asked to do more and more on less and less. They are also in buildings that are not great. They are in centres that might not have been invested in for a long time. They provide courses for young people coming from mainstream, back into education who really have to learn a lot of self-appreciation. They may not have been as happy in school or as welcome in school. They may have had a very difficult time, so when they go to a community training centre, they find the way they learn is okay, that it is okay to learn the way they do and that there is nothing wrong with them because they cannot learn the way the mainstream is or whatever has happened in the mainstream to mean that has broken down and meant they come to community centres. As it is learner-centred, it means they have basic things they are able to learn and are then able to specialise in. That is the success of teaching and learning in community training centres. Obviously, people going back to adult education may start with literacy and numeracy because their children have started in school and they do not have the level of education they would like to have, so they go into courses. Some adult education services provide classes in Gaeilge for the parents of children attending a Gaelscoil or naíonra. It is the first step on the rung but services are provided in centres which are not great. This fund will allow those centres to get up to scratch and to where they need to be so that when people come to those centres they feel very proud. They already feel proud to go to them but the building around them should be the best it can be, as is the case in many of our primary and secondary schools. We will invest in capital, but given the giant surplus we should also consider the employment of some of those involved in the service. As the Minister of State knows, in the summer we met with a group of adult educators who are not happy with how the new contracts have been rolled out. My understanding from them is that several courses cannot be run because there is no funding. The Minister of State has assured me that there is funding but we have been told there is not. We have been told contracts will not be fulfilled because there is no funding for them. There is a challenge with employment. The Minister of State and I spoke earlier about community training centres. She said it is a matter for the board but those employed by a State-funded organisation, which is an educator, should come under the public service. Independent education centres are one thing but these are centres which are supposed to operate at QQI level and follow certain procedures. We have to be able to treat all of our educators with parity, respect and dignity. It is the responsibility of the Department to ensure that, where possible, those people are brought under the public service remit. Youthreach and CTCs are not treated at the same level under pay scales. Adult educators are not happy with the contracts they are being offered. In the round, we have an excellent system. I am always saying that. We are very proud of our education system in Ireland and we want to make sure it is better. I am, however, concerned about a surplus of €1.8 billion, a staggering amount of money. Let us provide €150 million for capital investment for further and higher education but let us not be back here again having not fixed contracts for people or made sure the terms and conditions of educators are sorted. Capital investment is fantastic but we also have to consider how we will ensure curriculum courses are future-proofed. We need to consider what a child starting junior infants now will need into the future. This is a great opportunity to future-proof courses and determine what we need. Leaving certificate reform is not under the remit of the Minister of State but there is an opportunity to examine how we make that process smoother, whether it involves apprenticeships or third level. This could be much more fluid and people would not feel there is a hierarchy in how we provide education in this country.

Sentiment score: 0.23