Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I welcome the debate on this important matter. It is helpful that we have an opportunity to discuss the issues before any final decisions are made. It is a pity this was not formerly structured into the agenda for the House at the beginning of a session. I acknowledge the Government's acceptance of Fine Gael's proposal for this debate. However, I ask the Minister of State to agree to a second debate on the issue of Dáil reform other than that specifically dealing with committees.

Some seven years ago, in autumn 2000, the Joint Committee on Education and Science produced a report on science and technology, which was drafted by myself and Mr. John Bruton. One of the proposals we put forward was that there should be a specific Oireachtas committee to deal with science and technology. I understand we are the only country in the EU that does not have a parliamentary forum to deal specifically with this area. An ad hoc committee of Oireachtas Members was established during the last Dáil by Science Foundation Ireland but this did not involve any formal Oireachtas structure.

I urge the Minister of State and the Taoiseach, prior to finalising any decisions on the new committee system, to give serious consideration to such a forum for discussing issues of science and technology. The Taoiseach, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and other Ministers have pointed out ad nauseam that we must upskill the workforce if our economy is to continue to thrive. Investment in science and technology and research and development is vital in this regard. In fairness to the Government, it has, in the past five years, recognised this as a fundamental cornerstone of the future development of the economy. Following a lack of action in this area, significant funding has been ring-fenced for this purpose in the past five years.

However, there is no formalised Oireachtas structure for supervising and monitoring efforts in this area. Each Dáil committee has a role to play in this regard but there must be a dedicated committee to oversee activities. The rainbow Government included a Minister of State, who sat at Cabinet, with specific responsibility for this agenda. We considered it an extremely important issue. If we are to ensure our economy remains strong in the medium to long term, the Government must recognise that science and technology will be the cornerstone of industrial development.

There is a significant problem within our education system in that many young people do not continue with science subjects after they complete their junior certificate. Recent data on the State examinations show that pass rates in science subjects have fallen back at both ordinary and higher level, as have participation rates. We must put science and technology on the political agenda and in the public domain through the establishment of a dedicated Oireachtas committee. There is a significant advantage in doing so in that the majority of its members will not come from a science or technology background. This will force the scientific community, for the first time, to communicate to ordinary individuals what their objectives are, the activities they are undertaking and the ultimate goal of the research in which they are engaged. If they are obliged to attend regular meetings of a dedicated Oireachtas committee, they will have to come up with means of communicating that information to the public in general.

From time to time, we in this House scratch at the surface of the debate surrounding genetic engineering and biotechnology. There is major controversy regarding the ever-changing position of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on these issues. This is an area that could be dealt with by a dedicated Oireachtas committee. The issue of human genetic engineering encompasses the question of how to deal with embryos. We have perhaps the most liberal laws in the world in terms of the treatment of embryos. None of this has been formally debated by the Oireachtas. A certain amount has been done by the Joint Committee on Health and Children and those issues could be thrashed out.

One of the bigger problems we have is a lack of public awareness of science and scientific opportunities. There is innate fear in the public mind of new technology. We remember the debate on the erection of mobile telephone masts some years ago, when Deputy Mary O'Rourke was the Minister and Deputy Stagg was the spokesperson on the Labour side. We were dragged around the country and brought before public meetings where alleged scientific experts threw out information, none of which could be validated. They declared themselves experts and were paid by local community groups to make presentations. If we had one committee to deal with such matters, the truth could come out, warts and all. People could debate the issues with the full facts available. Sadly, this is not happening with the current structure.

I urge the Minister of State to consider this before a final decision is made on the structure of committees. This is now the only Parliament in Europe without a specific committee dealing with those issues. Such a committee has been set up on an ad hoc basis with a number of Members of the Dáil and Seanad participating in the process facilitated by Science Foundation Ireland, but it should be put on a formal structure, with meetings held in the public domain rather than behind closed doors, which is the case now.

I wish to discuss the handling of European legislation by Oireachtas committees. If any of us put hand on heart, we would call what goes on at these meetings a farce, with important European legislation being rubber-stamped. This happens because of a lack of resources to deal with such legislation and difficulty with timing in physically accommodating committees.

It is appalling to think that large volumes of European legislation coming through the committee structure are not being teased out. It is easy enough for some committees to deal with these matters because they do not have many rules and regulations from Brussels to consider, but others must examine a significant amount.

I sat on two separate committees in the lifetime of the last Dáil. The transport committee had adequate time to deal with European legislation because the volume of rules and regulations coming from Brussels to be considered by that committee was manageable. Deputy Johnny Brady was the chairman of the agriculture committee and can verify the volumes of legislation the committee had to consider. We had quite a heavy workload regardless of this but no additional resources were provided to deal specifically with European legislation. It is wrong to state the committee structure is currently dealing with European legislation when it is not. Action should be taken to ensure European legislation is examined in more detail.

Oireachtas committees do valuable work in producing reports. I mentioned the Joint Committee on Education and Science's role with science and technology and I was involved in a report by that committee on school transport. It dealt with the bus tragedy in County Meath and thankfully the Minister for Education and Science is beginning to implement recommendations, eight years after the report was published. These recommendations are particularly relevant when one considers the Meath tragedy and others.

The committees should have the opportunity to produce reports and these reports should bring action from the Government. At least, the Government should report back, indicating why it is implementing or not implementing recommendations.

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