Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na ráitis seo. Tá an eolaíocht fíorthábhachtach ó thaobh ár seirbhísí poiblí. An aidhm atá ag an tseachtain seo, agus na feachtais a théann léi, ná daoine a chur i dtreo staidéir a dhéanamh ar an eolaíocht agus dul ag obair san eolaíocht, ach go háirithe daoine níos óige. Tugann sé an-luach ó thaobh ár seirbhísí poiblí, mar a dúirt mé, agus ó thaobh oideachais agus go leor gnéithe eile. Science Week is very positive. It is focused on making sure that young people look towards STEM and science in both education and employment. Those are the key objectives and it has been successful in that regard. There is greater interest in those areas. In a way, it is an obvious thing to say, but science enhances our lives in many ways. We take for granted the advances that have been made in recent years. It occurs to me that if Covid-19 had hit even ten years previously, never mind 20 or 30 years previously, it may have been more debilitating and difficult and potentially many more people would have become ill from it. How much more difficult would it have been for us to continue our work to keep the economy going to some extent during the lockdown? There is no doubt that the scientific advances delivered here in Ireland and across the globe have made a significant difference.

I also think there is significant untapped potential with regard to science in politics and science in public services. There have been significant advances and there has been slowness, at times, to take advantage of the scientific advantages that exist to enhance our public services. Covid-19 has done much more harm than good. One good thing to come out was the electronic transferring of prescriptions, which was such an easy, obvious thing to do. It is hard to grasp why that did not happen years ago. That is replicated across parts of Government public services where obvious scientific advances, which are not even necessarily at the cutting edge, could make life easier but have not been adopted. That includes the incredible amounts of paper produced in this institution, though I am not blaming anyone in particular for that, and in our local authorities. We need to grasp that. It has been a part of political debate for a long time. I think of Harold Wilson, the revolution with Ford, and the white heat of technology, but much more can be done.

In the time I have left, I want to raise two or three issues. This week is positive but it is true that we have not quite punched at our weight with regard to investment in science and research, as my colleague, Deputy Conway-Walsh, has outlined. We spent less on research and development as a percentage of GNI every year since 2011, when Fine Gael came into government, and less as a share of public expenditure every year since 2012. We are way below the EU average and below the Government's own targets. We need annual current funding of €180 million in higher education to deliver higher quality education and research. It is essential.

I raised another issue in conversation with the Minister but there is no harm to putting it on the record of the Dáil. Science is not just academic. It affects large-scale industrial operations too. There is significant potential for apprenticeships here but there are problems too. I give the example of instrumentation. It is crucial. It involves the maintenance and repair of scientific instruments attached to production lines. That is a valuable trade and apprenticeship for people who get into it. It is a skilled trade. We do not have enough of them. It is essential for life sciences, pharmaceuticals and all forms of industry. Not only do we not have enough of them, we cannot get the instructors because what they can earn in industry is so much more than they can earn in teaching. I know the Minister visited the Cork training centre. This might have been raised with him. This is a significant problem because we will need more people working in that. This is a trade that we should flag to ensure that people go into apprenticeships. We need to change the perception of apprenticeships. We cannot get people into it and we cannot deliver the courses.

My final point is about medical laboratory scientists. They have lodged a claim and are considering industrial action. The Medical Laboratory Scientists Association has only taken full industrial action once in its 60-year history. This dispute is about 20 years old. It is not that they have not been patient. I urge the Minister to engage with them. They have worked hard. It needs to be clearly stated that they were essential in the fight against Covid. They have shown great patience and they have reached the end of their tether. I urge the Minister to engage with them and to try to deliver a fair result.

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