Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome everyone. I apologise as I was delayed chairing a session in the Dáil. I was interested in what the witnesses said about unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, in Northern Ireland. There is an issue there about qualifications and skills. I think it was talked about in the presentation I read. Obviously, much of that goes back to the education system we have discussed. I am very much in favour of shared education or Educate Together as we call it in some schools down here. As some colleagues have said, there is an issue with regard to what is called the ethos of a school. Could the witnesses tell us how hard is it to break away from that? There have been situations in the Republic of Ireland where people have a preference for an all-Irish school - the Gaelscoil movement - or the traditional diocesan school, be it a parish school or a diocesan college. We have Educate Together in a small way. Parents might vote with their feet when they send their children to the local school. It is a difficult one. I recall how 40 years ago, I was very lucky to get a job as a primary school teacher in Galway city. It was the first co-educational school in Galway city. Some people thought it was revolutionary and more people thought that we were crazy and that we would shake the foundation of the State, to use the phrase.

It was normal to me because, as a young child, I went to a small country co-education school. There is that issue. I do not know whether it is the same in other countries. It provides an example of how difficult it is to get away from the different types of education available. I suppose I could mention also the convent schools, in terms of various religious orders providing education. How does that issue translate in trying to get employment, having the necessary qualifications and skills, and the gender gap? That is the only question I have on education and tackling unemployment.