Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the three witnesses for attending and for being so inspirational. I agree with Mr. O'Hara about the whole curriculum development process. We need to consider what we need for our young people for the future besides just piling stuff on top of what is already there. I was very impressed with what he had to say about JUMP math. I presume the Canadian teacher trainers will come to Ireland. Will they work with teachers other than those in the pilot schools? He said that Harvard now has more social entrepreneurship courses than finance courses. Do any Irish third level institutions run social entrepreneurship courses?

As always Ms Casey was highly impressive and inspirational. She spoke about mergers and I agree that we are in times with minimal financial resources. A particular group might be able to benefit from another group without knowing it. Where does one go - perhaps Ashoka or Social Entrepreneurs Ireland - to find a database of projects perhaps that could help each other? We should be about sharing resources and minimising cash need, etc., and learning from all that knowledge.

I thank Mr. Whelton for being here. He brought a positive side to the Playstation. I have a son at home who would probably be on it all the time if I did not send him to school. I know Mr. Whelton is a really good model but I still cannot risk that. I am doing my best to set up a CoderDojo in Oranmore but am having difficulty getting enough IT-savvy volunteers to give up their time on a Saturday morning. I have two people but I need more. I know that perhaps I have not put enough into it yet but is there anything Mr. Whelton can say that can help me?

Mr. Whelton should not worry about making everything school-based because when something becomes school-based, it sometimes gets lost. The magic is where schools are begging for it so it is very important that we let things fly first. I am looking to set up a CoderDojo in Oranmore on a voluntary basis yet I have managed to get it into the school and nobody really knows about it once it is in the school.