Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
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I thank the Chairman for allowing me to join the committee today. I thank the Minister for speaking so eloquently on the issue of history. He displayed a very deep understanding. He may be aware that I and my colleague, Senator Kelleher, and others have put forward proposals on Traveller history in education, and I believe that the National Council for Curriculum Assessment, NCCA, is examining how it might become part of the curriculum. It is, as the Minister said, part of all those parts of history reflecting the kind of diversity of experience, both good and bad, that people have had in Ireland and that has helped to shape our country. I am hopeful of the outcomes. Will the Minister give a timeline for when we might expect the completion of that review?

Also on critical thinking, I draw the Minister's attention to a very good but under-resourced initiative, namely, the Young Philosopher Awards and the Young Philosopher of the Year. It is a very small project and certainly not on the scale of the young entrepreneur initiative or others. It is very important, nonetheless, in promoting critical and philosophical thinking which is so important for our young people. The initiative came out of UCD with 50 or 60 schools involved. It is something that could be of great benefit, especially at a time when, locally, nationally and internationally, there are very polarised debates, so to be able to think philosophically and engage with each other is important. It is a sign of the importance of critical thinking that the work of Paulo Freire is being pulled out of schools in Brazil. It is because people recognise the power of when people are thinking critically. We should look to reverse that trend in every way that we can.

Well-being has been mentioned. We need to model this as well as teach it. Insecurity for teachers is an issue in creating a positive environment. This is particularly the case for school secretaries. I know that school secretaries have almost a social work component to their jobs. In many cases it is the school secretaries who help children, especially those children who are dealing with difficult situations such as their family's housing security, being in direct provision or navigating bureaucracies, which unfortunately our youngest people sometimes have to navigate. They play a key role and it is very unfortunate that people, including students, do not know whether the same school secretary will be there in September because they effectively lose their jobs every year and must go on social welfare before returning to work in September. That is not acceptable.

I sit on the Committee on Social Protection. We held a joint meeting between the Committees on Education and Skills and the Committee on Social Protection - I think it predated the Minister's appointment - which focused on disability and the blocks to access. I would love to hear the Minister refer to second chance education and how we can ensure that those who may be navigating the social protection system are being given quality education options. Sometimes people can feel as though it is the luck of the draw regarding the courses they are offered and the time of year that they register as to whether they will be offered a college course.

I am concerned about the National Training Fund. There will be statements on it in the Seanad this week. There has been an indication that employers will be given a greater say in what training persons might do. The National Training Fund is there to allow individuals to build their own career or capacity or perhaps to start a new career. It is very important that it remain learner-centred rather than become an asset of companies.

I am not sure if the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, will join us again but I will raise the issues and we might follow up elsewhere. I refer to goal 4, to "Build stronger bridges between education and the wider community" in the Action Plan for Education. Will the Minister consider incorporating that goal into future procurement so that, for example, in the area of books for schools, we try to support situations linked to wider learning opportunities.

Green schools have already been mentioned in terms of energy, but the pollinator plants and wildlife corridors they can provide are also important.

My question for the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, concerns frontier research, which is public research for the public good and which has a wider scope. I have specific questions on the effect of Brexit on this area. What measures are being taken to ensure that research projects in which Ireland is a partner of UK institutions at the moment are protected? Are we carrying out appropriate transfers of data and research materials to ensure that they are based within the EU so that projects are not put in jeopardy? Perhaps resources will have to be freed up to address what will be quite a logistical challenge. Data transfer subsequent to a no-deal Brexit, if that happens, will be extremely difficult.

On the recognition of qualifications, is there any scope to remove the current employment control framework for universities? There will be a wide array of extraordinarily talented researchers and academics who may be searching for other English language locations. At the moment, because of the employment control frameworks, leaving aside the issue or funding many universities are blocked from being able to hire those people because they are restricted in the numbers they are permitted to recruit.