Ms Aoibh?nn Doyle:

I will answer the first question about building capacity. We had many proposals on our climate action education course. I would love to see that included within the course and to be given those opportunities. I will give the example of something similar that we did in my school. We were given the opportunity to visit Wexford County Council where we discussed loads of economic plans.

They explained the work they do. When we were there, we realised that they have this plan to build up Wexford and to build this new hub, yet we were confused around the sustainability aspect, especially as there was plan to put a marine institute there. The sustainability was a bit off. We were concerned about that. It is important to bring up stuff like that and those conversations.

The capacity could be in the classroom by having it as part of the curriculum. There could be a mandatory trip to the local authority. It does not necessarily have to be in the Oireachtas but more in the local constituency. It would be good to have funding for transport there and back as well because many schools are in rural areas or outreach areas.

Even if you are not confident enough to speak up in person, there are lots of other things that you can do to help and still be engaged in making the change. A couple of students could be appointed as climate action officers, as I suggested in my opening statement. They could go on then to represent their school. A climate action education course would be a great way to open that door for people. Some 72% of students indicated that they have personally taken action in the past six months to help climate change and 91% of Irish students say that it is important for climate change and environmental issues to be a focus area. There obviously is a great interest there. It is more about giving people those opportunities to be more involved within their constituency.