Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Of all the responses to Topical Issues that I have received in this House, that is the most comprehensive and encouraging. I thank the Minister of State very much for his commitment to this area and I welcome the launch of the consultation phase on the new digital strategy for schools. The approach he is taking in bringing partners and stakeholders to the table is the correct one. We cannot continue to have our education system operate in isolation from the needs of our economy. We all know it is as though children are born with an iPhone in their hands these days. We know they can teach themselves how to use a computer, but we need to excite them and steer them towards an understanding that this hobby, gift or ability - previous generations did not have the opportunity to utilise technology - can be turned into a career, can help them set up a business or allow them to go on to third level and study something in that field. Instead of having 4,500 vacancies in the ICT sector, we will have a situation in which people are competing to fill those vacancies.

This is quite exciting. We are not going back to creating an economy built on building and selling houses to each other. We must build an economy based on using the skills and ingenuity of the Irish people. Young people have a natural skill set they have grown up with. They do not have a fear of engaging with technology and we need to harness it at the earliest possible age. Secondary school is perhaps too late to begin this, it should be done when they are four, five or six years of age in primary school. I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response and I look forward to seeing the strategies progress. I look forward to an Irish economy returning to full employment and being built on the technological skills of our young graduates.

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