Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I congratulate all the witnesses, including Ms Olive McGovern. It is great to see young people getting involved. There are too many passengers in school who just sit there and do not try to contribute, so it is great to see our witnesses' civic-mindedness coming out. They are all going to make great politicians some day. It is great to see the contribution they are making.

I was curious about the 59 questions that were asked. How did Comhairle na nÓg come up with those questions? It is good to hear Mr. Hugh Fitzgerald talking about the departmental co-operation between the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs and Education and Skills. It is very important that the views of Comhairle na nÓg are listened to and obviously this committee will do so. I welcome the news of the presentation that Comhairle na nÓg will be making to the inspectors' conference and of the video on 6 December. There is no point in doing surveys, with all the attendant work for the witnesses and Dáil na nÓg, unless they are actually going to go somewhere. The Chair of this committee is mindful of that and will encourage this committee to help in bringing forward Comhairle na nÓg's views. I thank the witnesses very much for coming in and giving their contribution. They are all extremely articulate and very accomplished.