The Deputy raised a number of points. I do not have the figures for the number of people employed full time in literacy provision. I am sure it is more than 20 but I will get the figure for the Deputy. Since coming into the Department, I have become aware that the amount of tuition time for adult literacy classes is two hours per week which is equivalent to two weeks full time study in a year. Eighty-five per cent of the people providing tuition are volunteers. We are committed in our manifesto to reducing the dependence on volunteerism, introducing more flexible hours, providing more suitable premises and money for materials such as computers and software. I intend to press ahead with that. As the Deputy acknowledged in his question, that will require a substantial increase in resources. I have made the strongest possible representations to the Minister for Finance who listened sympathetically to my request and has given me an additional £250,000 for this year.
I do not need the Green Paper to tell me about the demands on the ground. I have spoken to people who are taking adult education classes and to the organisations representing those people both at national and local level — I refer specifically to NALA and Aontas — and I know many people who are involved in the system in my own area. The objective of the Green Paper is to rationalise and put a structure on the adult education system. Interest in adult education has grown to an extraordinary degree in recent times but there is total disorganisation in this area where not even all the actors in the field have the full picture. We need to establish some sort of national board to direct adult education and that is the primary purpose of the Green Paper. We are also committed to improving access to literacy tuition and that is the reason I am seeking substantial increases in funding.
Deputy Higgins is correct on the question of international comment. The OECD carried out a survey of eight countries — not all EU countries, they included Canada and the United States —on levels of literacy. The people at level 1 could hardly perform the smallest literacy tasks in terms of reading and writing while those at levels 4 and 5 could perform the most complex literacy tasks. In terms of the people at the lower end of the scale, Ireland was second last with Poland coming in last. The figure for those at level 1 was 25 per cent which is extraordinary and exceeded even the worst estimates of NALA and other organisations. I intend to publish the survey shortly but I am aware some details of it have already leaked out, as the Deputy will be aware.
On the positive side, the survey concerned three age groups — 16 to 25, 25 to 45 and 45 to 64. It is obvious from the survey that the biggest problem occurred in the older age group which fared much worse than the second age group, with the lower age group performing the best. I associate that with the introduction of free education in 1968. The problem becomes much more acute from the 45 age group.