Batt O'Keeffe
Ceist:2 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Taoiseach if he will implement the recommendations in the report of Ireland's information society steering committee. [12156/97]
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Information Society Initiative.
In response to the recommendations of the Report of Ireland's Information Society Steering Committee, I launched the Government's Millennium Initiative on the Information Society on 9 April. I gave details of this comprehensive initiative in my answer to the House on 15 April and a copy of the press statement at the launch has been placed in the Library.
The Government's initiative, which will form part of Ireland's millennium celebrations, includes the Schools IT 2000 initiative announced by the Minister for Education, proposals to stimulate further developments in the business sector and the establishment of an Information Society Commission.
The Information Society Commission will have the function of shaping and overseeing the implementation of a strategic framework for the development of the Information Society Initiative in Ireland. The commission will be asked to recommend changes in legislation to remove any limitations on the use of information and communication technologies. The commission will also advise on measures to increase access to information and communications technologies, particularly measures aimed at those in disadvantaged groups. In addition, the commission will establish sectoral advisory groups to develop detailed recommendations for action based on the ideas put forward in the steering committee report. I have already announced the appointment of Ms Vivienne Jupp as chairman of the commission and the membership of the commission was announced last Friday.
The Information Society Initiative can be made most cost effective if there are elements of compatibility with what is being done internationally, in Britain and elsewhere. The new British Government plans to wire-up schools, libraries, colleges and hospitals to the information super highway. It plans a National Grid for Learning, franchised as a public-private partnership, which will help teachers update their skills. It also plans a new University for Industry, collaborating with the Open University to bring new opportunities to adults seeking to develop their potential.
As a follow-up to the Information Society Initiative, I explored the possibilities for co-operation with the British Government on these matters during my visit to Britain last week. There are opportunities for savings on educational hardware and software investments, and for co-operation on particular courses and subjects. Specifically, I would like Ireland to have inputs to, and benefits from, both the proposed new National Grid for Learning, and the new University for Industry in the UK. I look forward to developing the possibilities for co-operation in these areas with the new Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, who responded positively to my suggestions. I agreed with the Prime Minister that the structured east-west co-operation mechanism already in place would provide a suitable forum for initiating progress in this area.
One of the projects included in the initiative is the establishment of a digital park. What is the Government's view on the location of such a park? Will it be determined to maximise job creation? I wish to return to an issue I raised with the Taoiseach when we last discussed this matter in the House. He said at that time that some of my ideas on addressing the lack of graduates were worthy of merit and that they would be referred back to the commission. I recently attended a conference where a number of senior executives from large technological companies highlighted this difficulty and said that it is not becoming a crisis, it is a crisis. This is the most urgent issue to be dealt with by the commission. If there are high quality jobs available in the industry we should be able to produce people for those jobs. If we are not doing so, what proposals has the Government to rectify that?
On the establishment of a digital park, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment has asked Forfás to identify the appropriate place for such a park — that will involve important site selection. In view of the fact that the overall effect of the implementation of the information society proposals could ultimately be the creation of up to 48,000 additional jobs, the decision on a digital park, which will play a central role, using broad band technology in a concentrated area to maximise its use, particularly in the co-ordination of sounds and pictures, and using co-operative techniques to enable workers in the park to work with people in other parts of the world without moving to those parts, will be a very important decision which Forfás is best qualified to take and will take in the near future.
On the issue of skill shortages, we are fortunate to be in a position where this is becoming a problem. If we did not have substantial growth in employment we would not encounter this difficulty, but it is a difficulty which must be tackled if we are to sustain the present rate of growth in employment. The Minister for Enterprise and Employment has announced proposals to deal with that matter. He proposed a competitive tendering arrangement for higher education institutions which would compete to provide training or education in the specific skills where skill shortage has been identified. The most cost effective and educationally effective providers will be selected on a competitive basis to ensure the maximum number of places for the resources devoted to that purpose and that we overcome skill shortages as quickly and systematically as possible.
Given that in excess of 50,000 jobs have been created since 1993-4, why has the Government not dealt with this issue before now? Why is the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, in the dying days of the Government, trying to find ways to deal with this matter when he should have done so in 1995 when it was first highlighted? I raised with the Taoiseach previously the difficulty of a two-tier society in information technology where the well educated will receive further education — everyone welcomes that — but there are no proposals in the various reports of the commission to cater for those on the margins of information technology. There are long-term plans for first level education. What efforts will be made to co-ordinate those plans? Since people taking part in post-leaving certificate courses, who are totally ignored by the Government, have a certain level of qualification, will programmes be restructured to give those people an opportunity to take up the jobs that exist?
The Minister for Enterprise and Employment has moved promptly and effectively to deal with the emerging skills shortage. The arrangements he is now putting in place are extremely effective and well targeted and will deal with the problem in a way which will deliver extra skills in co-operation with the industries which need these people. Because of the recent acquisition by the Minister of certain overseas flagship projects, some of which have only been announced in the past year, the skills shortage must be addressed in co-ordination with those concerned. I am glad to say the Government has acted speedily on this matter. Further measures will be taken if necessary and we will monitor the situation closely to ensure emerging skills shortages do not remain unmet.
The Government gives exceptional priority to disadvantaged areas, especially to schools in those areas. We recognise that one of the principal problems is that some young people rarely attend school, if at all. There is a need to develop home-school links as well as to reform the school attendance service to ensure it supports families by assisting them to appreciate the value of education rather than exclusively adopting a penal or regulatory approach. That reform is one of the priorities of the Government for next year. This matter must be dealt with purposefully for the reasons I have given.
I agree with Deputy Bertie Ahern's suggestion that we must ensure the information society is not two-tier and that everyone has the means to participate in it. That is why we are providing computers in every school, with priority for schools which are relatively disadvantaged. We are also providing computers with Internet access in public buildings such as libraries, so that people without the means to have such facilities in their homes at their own expense will have access to them in public places.