Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. I attended the launch of the witnesses' report a few months ago. It was fascinating and I thank the witnesses for that research. The committee had other consultations on this matter approximately two weeks ago and one of the things mentioned, which was mentioned in the witnesses' opening statement as well, was the potential for greater school-based guidance to provide greater awareness of options.

On page 10 of the ESRI report, it mentions there are two main strands to guidance provision in schools in the North, one of which is careers education, with this being provided by careers teachers, and the report details how this is done. It seems to me, and from speaking to school students two weeks ago, that what information you have is very much based on your school. I studied my undergraduate degree in Galway and my postgraduate degree in Belfast, but my dad is from Belfast, so this obviously led to better awareness. What else do the witnesses think should be done to create that greater awareness for students, if it is a question at the moment that this is done on an ad hoc basis, where the teachers are aware of it or have the ability and time to do that, which I totally understand? One thought that came from the school students was that there could be a website that would be a one-stop-shop which tells students everything they need to know. I am interested to hear the witnesses' thoughts on that.