Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. I commend the work of Dunboyne College of Further Education and the Youthreaches in County Meath. I am familiar with a number of them, including in Kells and Ashbourne. Along with Deputy Mary Lou McDonald and Councillor Maria White, I visited Laytown-Bettystown Youthreach last Friday and saw the really important work it does to provide alternative pathways into third level, apprenticeships, research and innovation. I commend the work of the principal of Dunboyne College of Further Education, Denis Leonard, who is soon to retire. I am sure he would echo my words that we need the new building there to be delivered as quickly as possible. They do tremendous work.

It is important to highlight the vital role of youth work in equipping young people with essential transversal skills. The skills summary project is an innovative tool that recognises youth work as an educational process. The project supports many young people, most notably those who are furthest from mainstream education. It promotes inclusion and readiness for work and is already being used across youth services, employability projects and volunteering organisations, offering a scalable youth-focused way to make transversal skills visible and valued, filling the gap between youth work and economic opportunity. It is an excellent project.

I want to take a step further back in the pipeline towards senior cycle reform, particularly of science subjects. I recently met with the Irish Science Teachers' Association. I know the Minister has met with the teaching unions and there are proposals under consideration. When I met with representatives of the Irish Science Teachers' Association, they raised serious concerns about reform of the senior cycle and leaving certificate, particularly in relation to funding of science laboratories and of science in schools generally. There is a need for a significant increase in funding for our science laboratories. There is a concern the current approach will heap advantage on advantage and disadvantage on disadvantage. That needs to be addressed. I urge caution on the Minister and ask for further engagement with our science teachers. If we want the pipeline of strong graduates to continue, we need to invest in secondary as well.

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