Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on Science Week. I applaud the great work being done across every sector in advancing science. Recent studies from the European Union showed the number of young people in Ireland who have gone on to third level education and the on to PhDs. They have contributed enormously to the advances but we have more to do. We often think of science in terms of medicine and other traditional areas but there is a raft of them that are moving at pace, none more so than those addressing the challenges of climate change facing the country and the world.

We have seen many scientific advances in agriculture in the context of what can be done rather than the simplistic way of going about it, namely, cutting production and reducing the size of the national herd. Much more can be done in this regard through the use of science. That is what needs happen.

I listened with interest to some of the contributions. It is extremely important that we have the discussion every year and we have a robust exchange as to the challenges we face. We have set up an excellent education system and we are bringing people on to PhDs and right across the spectrum. However, there are challenges. One of these is access to education for people from low-income families. There needs to be uniformity across the sector to ensure that people can get access to education. This brings to mind a case which I am still working on of two pupils with the exact same background. One of them got a college grant to go on to a PhD and the other did not. The fees were to be paid by the sponsoring company. When applying, one person mistakenly put in the stipend and the fees as income and another just put in the fees. This meant that the first person was considered to be above threshold for a grant. It is important that the Departments and the local authority that processed the application acknowledge the error and ensure that everybody has equal access to education.

Students in primary and post-primary school look at particular areas of science. The Young Scientist exhibition has been a phenomenal success in engaging with young people as to how best to come up with new ideas and see them becoming a reality.

While we congratulate ourselves on what we have done, we must look at the challenges that will arise in the next few years and encourage more people to study science. We must look at innovative ways to address the very serious issues facing our country. Science comes up with very good ways of doing business. We have looked at the overreliance on oil and the development of hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, fuels in the past while. As a result of ideologies, there is a blockage in the system which is not allowing this to replace some oil-based products. I refer, in particular, to home heating oil in this regard. We have to look at the science, the facts and the information available to us and make sure that they are implemented, irrespective of ideology. Many of us look to the advances in science to deal with the challenges facing the world. The new initiatives coming through from science need to be embraced with open arms.

Over the years we have seen a huge amount of scientific and technological development in the area of agriculture. It is important that we encourage scientists, students and people who engage with science to make sure that we have a world-class product - which we have developed over the years in agriculture - that is sustainable into the future.

The cheapest and easiest route for some commentators is to assert that we need to cut production. That is not the reality because we face the prospect of there being 10 billion people on the planet in the not-too-distant future. They will all have to be fed. Developments in the area of agriculture and the food we produce will allow that to happen. I am heartened to see the scientific community encouraging people to develop new methods and new ideas.

Earlier this year I completed an adult education course at UCC. My classmates were fantastic people who can contribute an awful lot. These people have life experience when they take up courses. We should be making it easier for people to return to further education. People on that course came from all walks of life. We should make it easier and more attainable for people to attend such courses. Uniformity of access is important. Where mistakes were made in the past regarding stipends and grants, these should be rectified by the Department, even at this late stage.

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