Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

I join colleagues in welcoming yesterday's announcement of the creation of 500 jobs at Hewlett Packard, as well as the investment of an additional €1 billion by Intel. I intend henceforth to begin my reply to the Order of Business by focusing on positive news, so that the staff of "Oireachtas Report" will be able to offer a balanced broadcast to the people, featuring the good news as well as the bad. I wholeheartedly welcome this very good news, especially for people on the east coast and for young students and apprentices.

On behalf of the House, I call on the Minister for Education and Science to give serious consideration to increasing, as a matter of urgency, the marks awarded to leaving certificate students for mathematics and science by 50%. It is in these areas that jobs will be created in the future.