Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I found both Ministers' contributions very interesting. Large employers get a lot of publicity when somebody goes over to the United States and brings back an employer who provides hundreds of jobs. Small start-ups, however, do not seem to get anything like the same amount of publicity, yet there are hundreds of them. In addition, every large business started as a small one. Could we have a view as to whether entrepreneurship can be taught and developed? I have spoken before about going down to Kerry and meeting Mr. Jerry Kennelly who has set up an organisation so that 600 transition year students can be taught entrepreneurship. Mr. Kennelly taught the teachers how to develop that subject. That is an important element for both Ministers, Deputy Bruton and Deputy Quinn.

Senator Clune mentioned the role of modern international languages. Some time ago, I visited Google and could not get over the amount of languages that were being spoken there. Why are we at the very bottom of the pile in speaking another European language or an Asian language? Is the allocation of so much time to teaching Gaeilge a hindrance to developing international languages?

Over the weekend, I was at the University of Sterling in Scotland and was impressed watching 800 graduates there and the variety of their degrees. I met the professor of aquaculture there. They are doing that subject because they can see the opportunities in developing the seafood industry. They seem to be responding to the market very well. I was interested to hear the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, refer to Scotland as one of those countries to be admired.

For a long time, we all believed that jobs would come from services and not from manufacturing, which would go to low-cost areas such as China and Eastern Europe. Is there a possibility that we took the wrong decision there? Very few countries have succeeded unless they are developing a manufacturing business, rather than concentrating entirely on services.