Ms Evelyn O'Connor:

I agree; we do need to get pupils involved from early years onwards. There is only a certain level that can be reached at early school learning and care level but, as the Chairman will know, we have our STEM policy statement and we also have an implementation plan. The implementation plan that runs from 2023 to 2026 was developed between our Department and the Departments of education and children, so we are very much of the same mind as the Chairman in that we have to encourage children from when they are babies upwards, pretty much, to have an interest in STEM subjects. We are working on various actions on our STEM implementation plan, including, for example, by developing information leaflets for parents and guardians to help them have knowledge of the STEM subjects and help create an interest. I have responsibility for guidance as well, and we are looking at it in terms of how guidance counsellors can better support children from primary school. We are going to look at guidance and support we can give them from primary school and post-primary and the lifelong element of that.