Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before we finish this engagement I have a couple of questions to put to Dr. Cunningham.

I am very interested in the directory MyCreativeEdge. It is a terrific idea. Should there be a national directory?

I heard Mr. Phil Coulter make a presentation at another committee on which I sat prior to this one. He said that if he was starting now, he would not attain the same success, nationally or globally, because there are no policies on promoting Irish performers on national radio and television in terms of air play. Several artists are associated with that view and feel strongly about the issue. Would Dr. Cunningham research it? His comments on work placements linking creative graduates with industry are excellent.

Does Professor O’Donoghue have any view on how we might incorporate business skills for young people? They need to think of themselves as being self-employed because they are part of the small and medium enterprise, SME, sector, although they may not think they are. Much of their employment will be contract work and they will go back on social benefits when a contract ends. Is there sufficient expertise in the LEOs to recognise the potential business of a young person? Much of it comes from courses and taps into technology that is moving so rapidly that people may not recognise the potential when, for example, a girl or a boy designs something like Minecraft or writes Game of Thrones. They have the potential and the capacity to do something fantastic. Are we missing out by not recognising it?

Mr. Brannigan’s point that jobs follow people in the creative class is well made and puts the matter in perspective. How can we get away from the impression that many people graduating have that they must work for nothing for a long time? They sign on and then have to try to find some work on a film or here, there and everywhere to build a CV. There is no other sector in which a young graduate who has worked hard for three or four years is expected to work for nothing. That is particularly evident in the creative industries and the technology sector.

Do any of the delegates have an input into developing the third level curriculum? Have they fed any of their findings on linking industry into the process?