Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his feedback and his commitment. The two of us have benefitted from the amazing education system we have had in this country. We have both utilised it to the best possible degree in various forms. What we want, and the opportunity we have here, is to ensure that all the young people growing up in this new and growing constituency can access it, and I see Deputy Ó Cearúil is here. Obviously, there is a multitude of other issues around accessing education, maybe transport and housing and places to stay, but often the initial core barrier can be cost. The focus of this Government needs to be on ensuring that everyone has access to education. Third level education is key to driving possibilities. We can talk about AI all we want, and we can talk about all those things, but if we do not have the people in the system to make the best of it, our economy will not grow and develop in the way it should and our people will not develop the way they should.

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