Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise Deputy Ní Raghallaigh that everyone has made very general contributions. Does she wish to comment now or in a few minutes' time? She has indicated the latter.

We have drifted into an area we will discuss shortly. I will make a few comments. Unlike Senator Conway, I made two efforts to escape education. I promised myself when I had my leaving certificate done that that would be it, but I went off to college and became a teacher. I made a second attempt to break free at the 2020 election only to end up on the education committee. However, I believe education is the most important sector in Irish society. Members have put it well that education is the equaliser.

I will briefly describe how committees work. I have only five years of experience, as I came to the Oireachtas five years ago, but Deputy O'Rourke summed it up perfectly. Debate in the Dáil Chamber is configured to be adversarial. Members look across at the Opposition and it is spokesperson versus Minister, but committees are very much roundtable discussions. Last time, I was a member of the committees that dealt with education, transport and health and found the environment very collegial. Certainly, the transport committee worked well. What is lovely is that we have on that side of the room stakeholders we ordinarily do not get to hear in the Houses of the Oireachtas, giving us good input. Uniquely on this committee, we have a chance to hear young voices. Where possible, we should try to get them in.

I will now refer to the bit that will probably bog us down a little bit, and it is the less attractive side of committee work, namely, dealing with legislation. That can be onerous and tedious due to dealing with amendments and all of that. We will enjoy discussing topical issues and getting into the divestment of schools, DEIS, special education and so on. That is where there is real value in all of this.

Members have mentioned loads of topics. I hope we will touch on some of them before the summer recess and more in the autumn. Some will have to be fitted in around the five-year structure of committees, if no general election takes place. Some topics will recur. The Minister and departmental officials are the most responsible people in terms of answering questions asked by the committee, so we will need to have them here repeatedly.

In addition to what members have requested, I would like to see the committee deal with two other matters. Half an hour ago in the AV room, a group of girls from Our Lady's Bower Secondary School gave an incredible presentation. They talked about the need for leeway shown to children and adolescents with dyslexia when facing State examinations. I see a lot of nodding heads and I believe everyone wants to see that happen. I hope that this committee will have to act as a driving force to see that happen.

The second matter is that I do not think the current model of DEIS fully works, as it is linked to the census. Census statistics are gathered, that information is fed into Pobal and that is supposed to inform public policy for a five-year period. The problem is that, when one captures a data set of young people aged 12, they are nearly leaving secondary school by the time there is implementation of that data set and it is fed into the community. The data set also does not take account of transience and the rental market. I can think of many towns in my own constituency, and I am sure this is the case throughout the country, where people move around. The current DEIS model does not factor in the amount of people who have come to this country seeking international protection, fleeing the war in Ukraine, transience, etc. Therefore, we need a better DEIS model and this committee could give that consideration.

Does Deputy Ní Raghallaigh wish to say a few words at this point?