On 14 May 1930, during the passage through the Dáil of the Second Stage of the Vocational Education Bill, 1930, Professor John Marcus O'Sullivan, the Cumann na nGaedhael Minister for Education in the period 1926-1932 stated:
One of the matters in which technical education in Ireland at present fails short of the requirements is that there is not sufficient relation between the system and the neighbourhood which it purports to serve. The local connection is more necessary in this type of education than elsewhere. Hence, I agree with the views put forward by the special commission on technical education that local education committees should be retained.
In a similar vein during the passage of the 1930 legislation, Professor Alton stated: "The central idea of the Bill is the vocational committees". Thus, with this single vision and guiding principle John Marcus O'Sullivan steered through the Dáil and Seanad this great monument to his memory, the Vocational Education Bill, 1930, one of the great landmarks of Irish education history.
The 1930 Act and the 38 vocational education committees established under it have served this country, I think all will agree, very well over the past 62 years. The vision of those who framed that Act has been given the eloquent testimony of experience and its flexibility and far reaching features are recognised among its greatest virtues. It is in that overall context, therefore, that I wish to pay special tribute to the vocational education committees of this country for the magnificent and splendid work they have done over the past 62 years in advancing and promoting all aspects of vocational and technical education.
It is in that same overall context that I deplore and condemn the undemocratic provisions in these Bills which seek to undermine and diminish the role, power and functions of local vocational education committees in Irish technical and technological education and to transfer many of these powers and functions to the bureaucratic arena of the Minister for Education and his officials. All this flies in the face of the Government's alleged commitments to decentralisation and the principle of subsidiarity as enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty. At the core of these Bills is a mistrust of the democratic structures at ground level and a determination to undermine and diminish decision making powers which are not immediately and directly within the bureaucratic control of the Minister and his Department.
The Regional Technical Colleges Bill, 1991, and the Dublin Institute of Technology Bill, 1991, represent a serious body blow to those striving to improve and enhance the role, functions and powers of local elected councils throughout this country. The irony of this is the growing demand within the European community for devolving and decentralising the powers and functions of governments at all levels. All our EC partners are striving hard to give new powers, functions and roles to local communities at town, city and county levels throughout the Community. They are endeavouring and striving to build a Europe of the regions, yet, it seems to me that this Government are terrified and petrified of devolution and decentralisation. They want everything to be decided in Dublin by a Minister and a core of officials who they think know best for the country.
As a vocational education committee member for many years I am deeply concerned about and suspicious of the blanket powers which the Minister for Education is being given by these Bills. These Bills are transferring the powers and functions of the local vocational education committees, of local representatives and local control to the Minister for Education. Moreover, they are conferring on the Minister for Education a degree of control, authority and involvement in the regional technical colleges and in the Dublin Institute of Technology colleges which the vocational education committees themselves never had. Both Bills are riddled with references to the Minister for Education. The decision as to which colleges will come within the legislation will be a matter for the Minister for Education. The Minister can decide the names of the colleges, what courses of study are pursued in these colleges, and what bodies can validate those courses.
Section 5 (1) (c) states that, subject to such conditions as the Minister for Education may determine, the colleges can engage in research, consultancy and development work. What has happened in these Bills to the concept of autonomy and academic freedom? I am sure that the many pressure groups and organisations who promoted the idea of academic freedom and autonomy for these colleges will look in vain for such freedom and autonomy in this legislation.
The IVEA, the umbrella organisation for vocational education in Ireland, is deeply concerned about many aspects of this legislation. They have produced detailed and sensible documentation and recommendations in respect of this legislation and foremost among the issues of concern to them is the degree of bureaucracy and centralisation which these measures and provisions entail. What is envisaged is not a freeing up of the regional technical colleges and the Dublin Institute of Technology colleges in order to allow them to develop, expand and grow to meet needs according to their means and the wishes of the consumers of education, but rather an attack on the democratic structures which are already in place and have served third level, technical and technological education in particular so well in this country over these past years.
I think it is pertinent to ask the Minister for Education and the junior Minister the fundamental and crucial question, "What role do they envisage for vocational education committees in the future?" I am forced to ask the Minister this question because of the publication in a pre-emptive fashion of these Bills just in advance of a rational and comprehensive discussion on the Green Paper in Education. There is a genuine fear among many vocational education committees throughout this country that their days are numbered and that this legislation is just another chipping away at their powers and functions until they are finally abolished.
It is, of course, interesting to recall here today the historical context in which the present system of technical and technological education evolved. An organised system of technical instruction did not develop in Ireland until the early years of this century, although a number of individual institutions were making contributions in this field from the second half of the 19th century. The Samuelson Committee on Technical Education in Britain published their report in 1884 in which they pressed strongly for the expansion of technical education in Ireland with State support.
The State's role in providing financial assistance to technical education was recognised for the first time in the Technical Instruction Act, 1889, which empowered local authorities to provide financial aid for such education out of local rates. In the event, only 12 of the 228 local authorities at the time which could have given grants for technical education did so. The report of the Recess Committee in 1896 called for reform and recommended that technical education should be the responsibility of a new Government Department to be established to administer State aid to agriculture and industry. The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, laid the framework for a more organised local authority structure and it enabled the new county and borough councils to levy rates for the support of technical education. Thus, at the turn of the century, we had the Local Government (Ireland) Act, the Recess Committee and the Technical Instruction Act.
In 1922, technical education came under the Department of Agriculture and, in 1924, it became the responsibility of the newly established Department of Education. A special commission on technical education was established in 1926 to inquire into and advise on the system of technical education in Saorstát Éireann in relation to the requirements of trade and industry. They reported in 1927. The main recommendations of that special commission formed the basis of the Vocational Act of 1930, a hallmark of legislation of which we can all be justly proud.
The sixties saw a major thrust in the development of technical education with the publication of the Investment in Education Report in 1962 and Training of Technicians in Ireland in 1964. In May 1963, the Minister for Education, Dr. Patrick Hillery, signalled the Government's intention to arrange with appropriate vocational education committees for the provision of a limited number of technical colleges with regional status.
In September 1966, a steering committee on technical education was established, to advise the Minister generally on technical education in this country. The 1969 report of that committee formed the basis for the establishment, between 1970 and 1977, of the present framework and network of regional technical colleges. That steering committee broadly defined the role of these colleges as being to educate for trade and industry over a broad spectrum of occupations, ranging from craft to professional level, notably engineering and science but also commercial, linguistic and other specialties.
I wish to pay special tribute to all those who have been involved in the development and administration of our regional technical colleges, the academic and administrative staffs, the management boards and vocational education committees, for their tremendous work in promoting and advancing technical and technological education in this country over these past 22 years. The form of words used in the 1930 Act, the flexibility inherent in them and the spirit, thrust and intent of that legislation, facilitated all the developments which have taken place since 1930.
John Marcus O'Sullivan was a man larger than life. He was a man of many interests which ran the gamut from carpentry and growing his own vegetables to his formal academic disciplines of philosophy and history. He was a European in this country long before his time. With a PhD from Heidelberg he was in a position to enjoy and appreciate the richness of our European heritage during his frequent travels in France and Germany. It may be forgotten that he also served as Secretary of the Department of Finance. For that reason he must have been conscious, as he introduced the 1930 Act, that for education in this country to be of true benefit to the citizens, it must be strongly related to Ireland's social and economic needs. He saw virtue in a capacity to convert ideas into action.
In a recent important document published in June 1991 entitle Reviews of National Policies for Education — Ireland, the international examiners of the OECD state that Ireland may be geographically a small country with a small population but it ferments with comment and controversy. While there may be good measures in this legislation, many of the provisions are bristling with controversy. The Minister should take on board many of the comments and recommendations of the IVEA. He should consider the matter further in the light of the publication of the Green Paper and introduce appropriate amendments and appropriate legislation which will enable the regional technical colleges to carry out their own research, development and consultancy work.
The Minister and the Government should provide the few extra million pounds which would make such a difference to each of the colleges which are bursting at the seams. He should give us the wherewithal to expand, develop and continue the undoubted and splendid success achieved by the vocational education committees and the regional technical colleges over these past years.