Mr. Tim Conlon:

I thank the Senator for an interesting question. I am thinking about the education for sustainable development strategy, which is currently in development. It addresses matters more generally. There will be a specific skills piece. We work closely with SOLAS and the SLMRU in identifying skills needs and addressing them. There is a broader piece about education for sustainable development in curriculum, in further and higher education, as well as in post-primary. This is because the industrial and technical responses to the climate challenge will be highly technical skills solutions. Behavioural responses are also needed, where the onus is on all of us to be aware of and to understand the environmental and social impacts of our actions. That will be important in the formation of citizens across the curriculum in higher education. As I say, that education for sustainable development strategy is on the way. Embeddedness in the curriculum across the board will be important for the UN sustainable development goals, SDGs. Another example is that we are currently operating a North-South research programme, which is going to invest heavily in all-island research. We are asking people not to just talk about a specific scientific project, but about the impact of that project on environmental sustainability, as well as on the broader UN sustainable development goals. This maps out to European research, which I know goes a long way from leaving certificate. However, it is the direction of travel and trajectory we are on. Those "do no significant harm" principles underpin all kinds of public funding rounds and all kinds of proposals. There are particular technical skills in retrofit, but the broader agenda of sustainable development is for all citizens to respond to. For that reason, it should be embedded across curricula at all levels.