Item No. 4 is a matter to be raised by Deputy Ring. May I belatedly extend my congratulations to the Deputy and welcome him to the House. I wish him well in his maiden speech.
Adjournment Debate. - Mayo Third Level College Proposal.
I thank you, and the Ceann Comhairle, for the kindness shown to me. I thank the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Opposition leaders for their kind remarks on my arrival. I also thank the staff of the Houses for their courtesy.
I call on the Minister to give a firm commitment to provide in the immediate future a fully fledged regional technical college in County Mayo in the conviction that this, more than any other factor, would help solve the huge problems of emigration and unemployment in the county. I come from a working class background and many of my generation did not have the opportunity to avail of third level education but I appreciate its value. Sadly, too many of the present generation could be described as the nonworking class and are faced with the grim prospect of joining the dole queue or emigrating.
As far back as 1979 the leaders of the main political parties, including the then Taoiseach, Charles J. Haughey, and the Labour Party Leader, the late Frank Cluskey, gave a firm commitment to provide a regional technical college in County Mayo. Fifteen years on Mayo is still waiting and the case in favour remains as valid as ever.
Every weekend more than 3,000 students from Mayo travel to and from third level institutions throughout the country. At Sligo Regional Techical College students from Mayo outnumber those from County Sligo. This is also the position at Athlone Regional Technical College where students from Mayo outnumber those from Westmeath.
During the period 1971-91 all the urban centres in which regional technical colleges are located showed significant increases in population. The population of Letterkenny increased by a massive 93 per cent from 5,500 to 11,000. During the same period County Mayo lost over 50,000 of its young people through emigration. It has also been shown that those towns in which regional technical colleges are located attract industrial development and economic growth.
The Green Paper on Education projects that there will be need for an additional 30,000 places in third level institutions during the next two decades. I ask that 1,000 of these places be allocated to a regional technical college in County Mayo which continues to be ravaged by emigration.
Last weekend I attended the unveiling of a memorial an Achill Island to 32 people from the Achill area, more than half of whom were teenagers, who lost their lives in the Clew Bay drowning tragedy in June 1894 when their hooker capsized while on their way from Achill to Westport quay to a board a steamer bound for Glasgow. One hundred years on emigration is still killing communities in the west and successive Governments have failed to do anything about it.
The problem has been highlighted by the western bishops in their report, "A Crusade for Survival". A fully fledged regional technical college in County Mayo would be a step in the right direction. Since 1990 we have been promised third level courses in Castlebar as a forerunner to the provision of a regional technical college. We have had more than enough broken promises and half measures. We have had a half developed general hospital for years and I welcome the decision of the Minister for Health, Deputy Howlin, to approve the completion of this urgently needed facility.
Facilities without adequate funding are of little use. It is a scandal that wards at the existing general hospital were closed and that male patients had to be accommodated in the maternity ward. The number of staff at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Castlebar where there is one nurse for 48 patients is inadequate. This is not fair on old people who are sick and weak. These are the people we should be looking after.
My presence, as a newly elected Deputy for Mayo West, should bring home the message to the Government that the people of County Mayo will no longer accept half measures or broken promises. The time has come to grant them their just entitlements. These include a regional technical college and adequate funding for its health service.
The people of County Mayo want and expect their regional technical college. I remind the Government that I have been sent to deliver the message loud and clear that, with the rest of the people of Connacht, they will no longer accept half promises. On this occasion, they have decided that Government representation should be reduced by half. I hope it will learn its lesson. The people of County Mayo expect to receive their full entitlement so that they can resolve the problems of emigration and unemployment. I intend to remind the Government during the next few months of the commitments it has given to the people of County Mayo.
, Wexford): I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and congratulate him on his election to this House and on making his maiden speech. I wish him well in representing the people of Mayo West.
I am happy to have the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister of Education, to speak on this matter and to clarify the present position in relation to arrangements for the provision of third-level courses in County Mayo.
The Minister has indicated in the course of a written reply to a recent parliamentary question that she is committed to the provision of two-year national certificate courses in Castlebar on an outreach centre basis commencing in September 1994. The latest position is that the following three courses have been sanctioned for commencement next September on the Castlebar campus: national certificate in computer programming, national certificate in business studies and national certificate in construction engineering.
These courses will be provided under the aegis of Galway regional technical college. Lecturing and support staff are currently being recruited by Galway regional technical college for the Castlebar campus. The Minister has asked her Department and the other agencies involved to ensure all the necessary arrangements are made so that these courses can commence next September.
Despite media reports about a low level of applications for the courses, the Minister is satisfied that there will be no shortage of suitable applicants for places next September. As the closing date for applications for courses under the "change of mind" procedure of the Central Applications Office is 1 July 1994, it will not be possible to have a figure on the actual number of applicants until after that date. Based on the pattern of previous years it is anticipated that the bulk of applications will be made in the week ending on 1 July 1994.
On the wider issue of an independent regional technical college for County Mayo, the Minister has asked a steering committee, established under the aegis of the Higher Education Authority, to advise her on the future development of the higher education sector in Ireland. The steering committee is preparing projections to the year 2015 of the total potential enrolments in higher education and the corresponding needs by the sector to facilitate these enrolments. The committee is carrying out a comprehensive needs analysis of higher education requirements. Its remit includes the overall needs of society and the economy as well as regional, socio-economic and equality considerations together with the needs of students and the world of work.
The committee will also focus on the appropriate provision for mature students as well as the need to provide access to third-level education for disadvantaged students. In the course of its work the technical working group of the committee is meeting with interested parties in different areas of the country, especially with those interests who have been pro-active to obtain facilities in their areas. It is understood that a number of these meetings has already taken place. As the Minister has indicated to this House, the work of the committee will have to be informed by, and take account of, budgetary and financial considerations.
It is expected to have the report of the committee before the end of the year, and the Minister will, of course, be giving it urgent consideration as soon as she receives it.
The Dáil adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 24 June 1994.