Martin Daly: Skills plan to keep rural futures at home
Martin Daly addresses the Minister on the need to align skills, training and innovation. He warns that without lifelong learning, apprenticeships and regional investment, rural communities risk losing people, jobs and services.
Main point
Martin Daly argues that debates about artificial intelligence and automation must be grounded in the practical question of whether people can build a future where they are from. He highlights recruitment shortages across health, construction, agriculture and small business as evidence that change is already affecting rural economies.
Skills and lifelong learning
Daly calls for a skills system that treats learning as lifelong and elevates apprenticeships, practical training and further education to the same status as traditional university routes. He says success must not depend on leaving one’s county and that training should anticipate job shifts driven by technology.
Regional investment and access
The speaker welcomes the commitment to a Veterinary College, East Galway, as an example of decentralising higher education. But he stresses that the problem in rural Ireland is not a lack of talent or ambition, it is lack of access to training and supports.
Consequences for towns and services
Daly warns that if training and innovation systems move too slowly, communities in the West will lose people, investment and opportunity. He frames the issue as one of keeping towns viable, maintaining services and giving people a genuine reason to build their futures at home.
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Minister, when we speak about ensuring our skills, training and innovation systems keep pace with the changing world, we often focus on technology itself, artificial intelligence, which is going to be revolutionary and changing, automation and digital transformation. But for constituencies like Roscambe and Galway, the real question is much simpler. Will people have the opportunity to build a future where they're from? Because change is already happening. Employers are struggling to recruit. Our health services need skilled professionals. Construction needs apprentices and tradespeople. Agriculture is becoming much more technologically and more specialised. Small businesses are expected to digitise and compete globally. The risk is not simply falling behind technologically, the risk is that rural communities fall behind economically. We need a skills system that recognises learning does not end at 21 years of age, that people should be able to retain lifelong learning, whether they are returning to work, changing careers, and there will be many people changing careers with the advent of artificial intelligence. Farming, running a business or adapting to new industries. We also need to elevate apprenticeships, practical training and further education to the same status as traditional academic routes. Success should not depend on leaving your county. Innovation must stop at the gates of our cities. If government is serious about balanced regional development, investment in skills, enterprise supports and training opportunities, it must reach towns across Roscambe and Galway and the wider West. And I do welcome the commitment to the Veterinary College in Mount Beliou in East Galway as a demonstration of the government's commitment to decentralise higher education. But talent is not scarce in rural Ireland. Ambition is not scarce. Potential is not scarce. What is scarce too often is access. Our responsibility is to ensure that in a rapidly changing world where someone is born should never determine whether they can adapt, succeed or contribute. The pace of change is not slowing down and rural Ireland cannot be expected to simply catch up afterwards. We need to anticipate where jobs are going, where shortages are emerging and where opportunities will come from and prepare people before those gaps appear. Because if our training and innovation systems move too slowly, communities like ours risk losing people, investment and opportunity. Getting this right is not only about economic growth, it's about keeping towns viable, services functioning and giving people a genuine reason to build their futures at home.
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