Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I thank Senator Mullen for allowing me time to say a few words. The Minister's speech is well worthwhile in spreading as widely as possible his intentions. A few years ago I had the opportunity to speak in South America about the Irish success story. We look back on it now as the good years. One of the books I read was a book about the success of the Celtic tiger written by two people with connections to this House, Senator Mary White's husband, Padraic, and Senator Marc MacSharry's father, Ray. The book listed what happened and how it succeeded. By far the most important reason given was our decision to concentrate on and pump money into education over the years in the bad times. With the current financial crisis we have some big decisions to make. Taking the long-term approach, we need to ensure that we again recognise that we need to pump money into education. I know there will be cuts and it will not be easy to do, but it is something we must continue to do.

Science, maths and technology will be of the utmost importance if we are to succeed in the coming years. I am pleased to hear the Minister say that we need to continue to concentrate on those areas. We really must pursue project maths at second level.

At primary level there seems to be a reduction in standards of handwriting. We need to remind people to work on that. Perhaps they are all texting now and do not feel the same need to do it. I recently mentioned that I have grandchildren being educated in France. The amount of attention and time they devote to handwriting for young children is very important.

I am pleased to hear what the Minister has said about higher education. I am involved in the university in which Senator Mullen is involved, NUIG. I am an adjunct professor there and I find it very interesting to go down there. Let us ensure we continue to concentrate on those universities. We sometimes take our eye off the ball when we see the amount of work that can be done there, particularly in the areas of technology and innovation.

For five years I was chairman of the committee of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment which introduced the leaving certificate applied programme. I am a huge believer in the leaving certificate applied course as having the potential to bring into a school class people who would otherwise have been regarded as failures. I hope I am not mistaken but there seems to be a drop-off in the Department's interest in the leaving certificate applied programme. It measures the talents, abilities and intelligence that are not necessarily recognised in the traditional leaving certificate programme. I saw 16 to 18 year old students grow in front of my eyes, so to speak. These youngsters had been told they were failures because they were not very bright at the things that were being measured in the traditional leaving certificate programme such as a person's ability to remember facts and figures and put them down on paper in a three-hour examination after two years of study. The leaving certificate applied programme instead works on continual assessment and measures other abilities and intelligence.

The ability to communicate in writing is important but nearly as important going through life is the ability to communicate in spoken terms. I could see youngsters who at the ages of five, ten or 15 were regarded as failures because they were not very bright at reading and writing, yet when released from those controls, could speak and debate. I must have visited 50 or 60 schools in those years. Youngsters who had been regarded as failures suddenly gained in confidence and in self-belief and therefore were able to achieve much more. They could stand up and speak and communicate. This had never been measured before and is just one example of what can be achieved.

I refer to a report issued last month by the Children's Rights Alliance which highlighted the underfunding of the country's education system in a number of different areas. However, it must be pointed out that the data in the report were gathered before the budget of 2009 was announced and there have been massive cuts since this report was published. Post-primary schools still await their budget allocations for next term from the Department of Education and Science. In addition, schools have still not been told by the Government how many teachers they are to be allocated this year.

The words we heard today from the Minister are the right words. We must lend our support but we must put the recognition of the importance of education high on the agenda.