Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of short questions arising from the discussion. In terms of the guidance counsellors, I know our guests mentioned there will be a strategy there and that there are 900 guidance councillors already. However, it is quite obvious that number is not sufficient. We need more boots on the ground, particularly for exploring options for students around further and higher education. That must match up with the apprenticeship opportunities that hopefully will be provided. How many extra guidance counsellors would the Department anticipate being in place in the next couple of years? I know our guests will agree that it is impossible for one guidance counsellor to spread himself or herself so thinly around a school of a couple of hundred students. Such a counsellor is unable to give the type of guidance that is necessary.

Computer science is now available in schools, as was mentioned. Has the Department a measure of exactly how many second level schools computer science is available in and where those schools are? We must ensure we are not creating an unequal playing field for those who want to pursue the subject. We all agree that digitalisation and digital technologies are the way forward. We need opportunities for students there. In how many schools is computer science available and where are those schools?

What formal communications does the Department have with those who are delivering the national broadband plan and how often are those meetings and engagements? How is an assessment conducted into how many households and students are without the broadband infrastructure to be able to connect?

On the urgency of implementation, the pandemic has obviously concentrated minds. Is there now a greater urgency for reform than was the case heretofore?