I wish to share my time with Deputy Penrose.
Adjournment Debate. - Agricultural Training Colleges.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
The training and education of young farmers is an important element in the future of rural Ireland. Farmers play a major role in the quality of our environment and food and in the economy of small towns and villages. They will shape our countryside and contribute significantly to the quality of life in rural Ireland in coming years. We rely to a great extent on the farming community to protect the quality of our water supply and to manage waterways, hedgerows and wildlife. The recent Government White Paper on Rural Development endorses the need for the education and training of young farmers and stresses its importance.
It was with shock and dismay that we read in newspaper reports in County Westmeath that the Kennedy report commissioned by Teagasc recommended the closure of the Franciscan College of Agriculture at Multyfarnham, County Westmeath. The college has educated young farmers since 1957 and a new modern college was built in 1982. There has been huge capital and personnel investment by the Franciscans over the years in this facility and this has been complemented by a dedicated staff.
Many thousands of young people have graduated from Multyfarnham agricultural college and they are to be found in every walk of life. My colleague, Deputy Penrose, is a proud graduate and the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Woods, taught there. The college provided an education not only in agricultural skills and techniques and animal husbandry but, most importantly, students were educated for life. Past students proudly acknowledge the effect the college had on them and the successes in their lives.
The college provides courses in horticulture, IT training and a diploma in agriculture in association with Athlone Institute of Technology. This is in addition to its basic agricultural courses. Student numbers fell in 1997 following the downturn in agriculture as a result of the BSE crisis. This phenomenon affected all sectors of agricultural life. There was a 25% increase in student intake this year over last year. The college and its staff are widely recognised for their excellence and students are enrolled from 20 counties. The student-teacher ratio is within Teagasc guidelines and management and staff are examining possibilities for further diversification and expansion.
The report indicated that if the college were to close a similar service would have to be provided at another college at huge cost to the taxpayer. Does that make sense? Many areas of diversification are being examined. One retired teacher, Séan T. Kelly, carried out a great deal of research into the possibility of the college becoming a base for the Open University in Ireland. With its central location and varied facilities this could be an ideal site for such an educational establishment.
Another possible area of diversification is to link the college to a similar facility in Enniskillen. This would do a great deal for cross-Border co-operation. I call on the Minister of State to stress to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the importance of training for young farmers and the huge role this college plays in educating young farmers in the midlands. Will the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development correspond with Teagasc to ensure funding is provided to secure the future of the Franciscan College of Agriculture at Multyfarnham?
I thank my colleague for sharing his time. As a strong proponent of rural development I have always argued that to keep farmers in the countryside and to avoid a rural wipe out, they should be equipped with the necessary skills to enable them to live on their farms and/or to obtain an ancillary income to supplement their farm incomes. This is especially true of those predominantly engaged in dry stock farming, particularly in the midlands. I called for a greater mix of courses involving the trades to be incorporated into the courses on offer in agricultural colleges to facilitate the opportunities in part-time farming.
The staff and management at Multyfarnham college were eager to embrace such innovative changes. Such colleges should be rural enterprise colleges with agriculture as one of the many subjects students could take. Multyfarnham agricultural college should not be closed. It should be extended as a rural enterprise centre in the field of agriculture and incorporate the Open Univer sity concept to which my colleague, Deputy McGrath referred.
In page 35 of the report commissioned by Teagasc on the future numbers and status of agricultural colleges Professor Kennedy of the ESRI coldly pronounced: "Multyfarnham should cease providing agricultural training". This report sent shock waves and tremors of disbelief through the entire agricultural community in Westmeath and the midlands and shook the staff and the Franciscan community to the core.
The community has provided agricultural training in this college since 1957 and in 1982 a new purpose-built college was provided on site. A huge investment was made in 1990 to modernise its farming structures. Ireland is supposed to be in the midst of an economic boom and many sectors of the economy are unable to keep pace with demand. It seems strange that the agricultural industry, which needs all the assistance and encouragement it can get, is subjected to this report. The report, if implemented, would be the very antithesis of rural regeneration and preservation and indicate that many of the utterances to date from a variety of sources including Ministers are nothing more than bluff, blather and bluster.
I, along with Deputy McGrath, will lead a crusade of the people of Westmeath and the midlands against any proposed attempts to downgrade or close Multyfarnham agricultural college. I am prepared to communicate those views to each member of Teagasc and to the Minister. The college will not be closed but a commitment must be given to provide necessary funding. Closure could result from job cuts and a starvation of funding and I worry that that is the real agenda in this Teagasc based report.
I apologise for the absence of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and his Ministers of State. As is evident from the trends in employment, increasingly the farmers of today and tomorrow are farming on a part-time basis. It is fundamental that they possess the skills needed to pursue a career in modern farming and the skills demanded to secure an off-farm part-time job. The opportunities for securing off-farm employment have never been better.
With virtually full employment in the economy and accordingly the increasing scarcity of qualified persons, employers have not been slow to recognise the potential benefits of bringing on board people from the farming sector. Companies are putting forward flexible working arrangements to take account of daily farming tasks. Both the European Commission and the Government have recognised the rapid changes taking place in agriculture, farming and in rural areas.
The Government recognises, in particular, that the well being of farm families is fundamental to the future of our primary industry. Such well being is as much related to income and income related situations for women and men in rural areas. In the White Paper on Rural Development, published last year elements of the strategy for agriculture will include the following: targeting schemes of aid for on-farm investment in favour of small and low income farm families; continuation of the early retirement and young farmer installation aid schemes; identification and promotion of farm-based diversification and alternative enterprises; and the provision of incentives for the modernisation of capital and stock investments.
As set out in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, the Government is fully committed to the development of a core of full time farms, which deliver a viable return to both capital and labour. This commitment is reflected in the very substantial supports currently paid, which will rise further as the gains from Agenda 2000 are felt. At the same time, our growing economy offers people in farm families attractive off-farm job opportunities and this provides an additional route to household viability for many families on smaller farms. The needs of these farm families will also be appropriately addressed by measures such as the new rural viability service of Teagasc.
Clearly, a high quality focused education and skills learning strategy is fundamental to maintaining current progress and achieving progress in the future. Teagasc is the main provider of vocational education and training for young people who take up careers in agriculture. The Teagasc training programme for new entrants to farming is targeted at young people embarking on careers in agriculture, horticulture and other rural farming and rural businesses. Special provision is made for women in farming and comprehensive training is also provided in rural enterprise development.
The Teagasc certificate in farming has been generally considered to be the minimum training which a person requires for a successful career in farming, whether full time or part-time. Since its initiation in 1983, more than 11,000 young people have completed the programme and of these 72% are in full time farming and a further 20% are in part-time farming. Teagasc also provides a range of diploma courses for new entrants, the most widely sought of which is the diploma in agriculture-dairying.
In rural development training, Teagasc has concentrated largely on training for alternative income generating activity. These courses cover a variety of subjects and some courses lead to certification. Subjects include small scale food production and rural tourism.
As with all public programmes, it is important to take stock of the agricultural training pro gramme from time to time to assess its relevance in the light of changing social and economic circumstances. At the end of last year, the Minister, Deputy Walsh, set up a task force to conduct a review of the current agricultural and education training provision. The task force made several important recommendations, most of which Teagasc is now in the course of implementing.
One of the main recommendations concerned the need to integrate agricultural education into the mainstream educational system through national certification by the national awarding bodies. I congratulate Teagasc for moving so quickly to implement this recommendation. The task force also highlighted the need to provide first class facilities for agricultural students and I am pleased that is being done and that appropriate funding is being provided. The sum of £2 million has been provided in the current year, the first instalment of a planned £10 million programme over the next five years.
In the context of rural development, under the Leader II 1994-1999 programme, in excess of £11 million has been expended by the 34 local action groups on training initiatives for people in rural areas, encompassing a broad range of skills with particular emphasis on the provision of information and communication technology. Having regard to the emphasis on innovative activity under Leader, training courses have also been provided for the development and expansion of alternative enterprises. Under the new Leader arrangements, which are expected to come on stream early next year, it is anticipated that the programmes will include provision for the training of rural dwellers.
I recognise the specific role of the third level colleges and institutions in progressing the development and sustainability of our rural economy for the future. I refer in particular to the excellent courses provided by the Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute and the universities. The quality of the course material provided is innovative and is equipping an expanding number of people with the skills for promoting and developing rural communities for the future. It goes without saying that education of all rural dwellers and, in particular, our young people who are entering farming is a key aim of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.
I will communicate to the Minister the specific case in Westmeath raised by Deputy Penrose.