This Bill gives us an opportunity to focus on the educational needs of regional technical colleges in the greater Dublin area and, more importantly in my case, in the area outside the capital which extends into neighbouring constituencies. This debate provides an opportunity to Members to refer to the educational needs in their respective regions, needs which are changing dramatically and which must provide for the competition likely to arise in the marketplace for future third level graduates. We are fortunate at present that there are ample opportunities for our population although there is no guarantee this will be the case in the future. However, it is timely to reflect on what is happening in the educational arena and how we are responding. For example, to what extent are we responding to those students who do not excel academically and how are we ensuring they manage when they go on to third level? Have we made adequate provision for them to be able to compete in that arena?
The number of opportunities which arise for students with a technical qualification is far greater than some years ago, and this will continue to be an area of great attraction. It will provide ready access to employment for the foreseeable future. Substantial training is being carried out within industry and regional technical college courses are also preparing students for employment. A great deal needs to be examined in this area in terms of assessing the needs of the various industries being established throughout the country with a view to giving students a high level of competence to cope with competition. It will also give them a much greater chance of gaining access to that employment in the first instance, rather than spending a long period in training. Instead, the firms involved will be able to give a greater preference to those with a propensity to work in technical areas and they will be given a head start.
I wish to deal with current educational needs as opposed to those of a few years ago. There is a need for greater liaison between universities and regional colleges and a great deal of work is taking place in that area. In Maynooth we are fortunate to have a national university which is now responding to the technical requirements obvious to everybody. I do not know if the education system responded quickly enough in that area. For the past five or six years, industry has been identifying technical needs which have not necessarily been responded to in the shortest possible time. If we do not make a reasonably dramatic response to the technical needs of industry, unfortunately it will not invest here.
We have been fortunate to inherit a great legacy of investment in education and investors saw this country as a place where they could be assured of high calibre graduates from second and third level. However, as time goes on the standard and degree of competition gets higher. If we want to continue to attract the type of investment we have been fortunate enough to attract in the past few years, we must double our investment in education. The background to this is important. In the past 20 years this country operated on a budget deficit. We now have a budget surplus and it is imperative we recognise that what was sufficient to meet requirements in those days is not sufficient to meet requirements in this era. We need to consider investment in education in a vastly different light. If we do not do that, our population will be disheartened because we will be seen as not responding quickly enough and those who consider this country as a base for investment will see it as an indication that we are not as serious as we should be.
Our educational needs will change dramatically. The Minister must accept that there must be a greater bias towards technical qualifications and on-course training. Most institutes of technology are conversant with this issue and are establishing contacts with industry. However, the degree to which this has happened so far is minuscule compared to what will be required in the future. A greater emphasis will have to be placed on meeting the requirements of industry. That does not necessarily mean that academic subjects will go by the wayside. An academic grounding will remain a necessity but it should be recognised that, if we are to achieve the degree of employment necessary in the future, we must invest accordingly.
Our population is increasing, in complete contradiction of the experts' gloom and doom predictions five or ten years ago that all our schools would be closed by now and our population would be further reduced in line with European trends. They forgot we have always exported our new generations and never had to cater for them ourselves until now. In the past four or five years that population has not emigrated but has made a very valuable contribution to our economy because it has had the necessary technical skills and competence to gain employment at home. I know it is a hackneyed expression, but since I entered the Dáil, which was not today or yesterday, we have heard that our greatest investment is our young people. That was all very well, but we did not have them at home. However, they are here now and, as a result, we must provide for them and their descendants. A population cycle occurs over a very short period – services usually need to be duplicated every 15 or 20 years.
I hope we will have an opportunity to look back over what we have done and assess the situation. I saw a prediction that our population is likely to reach 4.2 million by 2004; in fact, it could be even greater. In that environment it will be necessary to redouble our efforts. The 35,000 people who would have left the country every year and are now remaining here will give rise to an accumulated increased demand. We are all grateful for the improvements in our economy, which could continue to grow for quite some time into the future. However, we must recognise the need to provide the structures and parameters required for a good grounding in academic and technical education.
There has been a great deal of growth in my constituency in recent years. Many of our secondary schools have been accommodated in prefab accommodation over the past 15 or 16 years. Fortunately, times have changed. Students, parents and teachers should not be expected to accept that standard of accommodation today. Unfortunately, we still have a few prefabs. I hope measures will be put in place to deal with that problem as quickly as possible.
I request the Minister to take on board the ever growing needs of that increasing population. It is a hugely important and pertinent issue. It would be wrong and frivolous of me not to draw attention to it because the population growth in County Kildare is a microcosm of the national population growth. The structural problems arising in Kildare will be replicated throughout the country over the next few years.
We have not yet come to grips with the necessity to ensure that second level students have an equal opportunity to enter third level institutions. I do not know how the Minister can address that, other than by providing remedial education, reducing pupil-teacher ratios and ensuring a good quality of life is available to families, regardless of their address and environment, although that is a matter for other Departments. We must tackle the issue on a number of levels to ensure that every child has the opportunity to progress from primary to secondary level and on to third level. We should look at the reasons that prevent some children from achieving their best.
There have been numerous requests for a regional college in north Kildare. We have brought that to the attention of the Minister and his predecessors on several occasions. We have not yet achieved the distinction of a positive response but we hope that will be the case at some stage in the not too distant future.
Some people suggest this need can be met by other institutions on the periphery of the area, such as those in Blanchardstown, Carlow, Athlone and Navan. That is not necessarily the case. The regional colleges should be located in the areas in which there has been investment in industries which require high quality technical education, having regard to population trends. It is not a sufficient response to say that adequate means are being provided to institutions in other locations to meet the educational needs of the region. One might conclude the area's needs are being met when one looks at a graph on paper. However, an area's needs are met when an institution is located in that area which can meet the educational requirements of that area which result from the type of growth there. The industrial sector will then have an opportunity to liaise directly with the educationalists and they can co-operate to provide for these needs.
We have not had a positive response so far. The Minister must take on board the views expressed by many educationalists in Kildare in recent years in regard to the future technical needs arising from the investment in that area. When that is done and the area has a regional college, we will have provided for our students a variety of educational options which will provide long-term benefits for the whole education system and the region. A regional college would be a long-term investment in the education system. It would be of tremendous value to the region and would provide a variety of educational options for students.
To a large extent we provided for educational needs in the past and we did reasonably well. Before that, however, year in year out our people had to emigrate without the benefit of an education to equip them for the life ahead and consequently many had to take menial jobs. We have the opportunity now to invest in education and we should not fail to provide for it in the future. We have been fortunate to come of age at a time when information technology became readily available. We should ensure that we do not miss that opportunity. We should provide for the projected population in the next 20 years and should not have difficulty in so doing in the present economic climate. If we do that we will have invested well, however, if we fail to do that, future generations will judge us.
I have outlined the position in the region I represent. The Department of Education and Science has an ongoing method of assessing educational need, however, it does not respond as quickly as I would like it to respond. I would not like the Minister to get the impression that everything is rosy in the garden, because it is not, in particular the provision for second level education. County Kildare is experiencing a dramatic population increase and has a huge requirement in terms of second level education which ultimately will lead to a demand for third level places.
