Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I appreciate the funding levels for higher education have increased but as he has pointed out himself, the numbers going into it have significantly increased as well.

I wish to quickly raise a number of other issues. I agree with Deputy Ó Cathasaigh's point around the change in design. With our capital works, the matter of how we can improve ventilation is something we need to explore. A concern has been flagged with capital works and it is one which applies across the economy, namely, the rising cost of building materials. As we all know, this will impact on the sector.

Looking to life post-Covid, one of the things we have seen is a far greater use of technology. As the workforce and everything is changing so quickly we will see a greater use of micro-credentials, upskilling and the Springboard programme will have to expand further. It is something there must be a focus on from the innovation side of the Minister's Department to look at not just what skills are needed post-Covid but which ones will be needed in about ten years' time. I suggest there be funding provided for research on this. I am aware some work has been done by Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, and the Irish Research Council, IRC, on the impact of Covid of society, which will be relevant. We must ask what our learnings from this period are, both from a health point of view but also from a social one, on the impact of what has happened.

I have a final point of conern, on which the Minister may want to comment. Research is always evidence-based and academics argue their cases on the basis of such research. I am somewhat concerned about the case of an academic in a tenured position who encourages vaccine hesitancy and indeed has sought to undermine the public health advice of the Government, particularly given the position they occupy. I am obviously not going to go into the individual circumstances of the case but I think there is-----