Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply but he seems to be on a different planet to me. The Tánaiste attended a jobs announcement by Intel recently at which it announced it was investing €50 million in jobs in research and development. Mr. Walsh of Intel said on that occasion that the State was not producing enough graduates or post-graduates in computer science and electronic engineering. Management at Havok, which is owned by Intel has also said it cannot get adequate numbers of quality staff here. These comments contradict the response of the Minister of State.

There is a shortage of qualified workers. We have a problem in that we do not attract enough students into the mathematic, science, electronic and engineering areas. Fine Gael put a question to the Minister for Education and Science on this last week but his response was less than satisfactory. Will the Tánaiste or Minister of State outline what engagement their Department has had with the Department of Education and Science to address this serious issue? We have a significant shortage of students and graduates in this area. Companies like Intel, Havok and Google have all said there is a problem in attracting and sourcing graduates in these areas. The Government has announced plans for a smart economy but if we do not have the students and graduates to deliver that, where are we going?

What specific action is the Department taking to deal with the issue? The Minister of State mentioned the Higher Education Authority but he seems to be looking backwards rather than concentrating on encouraging the take-up of science and engineering. He mentioned the discover science and engineering programme but it has not provided measurable numbers of students. Instead, we see a fall-off year in and out in the numbers of students attracted to these areas.

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