Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Along with 600 other people, I attended a lecture in the Mansion House last Monday given by Dr. Craig Barrett, former chairman of Intel. Dr. Barrett spelled out the reasons why Intel invested in Ireland 20 years ago. We had a large and highly educated cohort of young university graduates and were competitive and bursting with fire to be the best in Europe and to escape our Third World situation. He gave a frightening assessment of our current position. Ireland is no longer competing on the world stage. The reasons Intel came no longer exist, other than the corporation tax. Dr. Barrett said that, sadly, our standard of education is only average, our broadband development is poor and our average investment in research and development is weak. A total of 600 policymakers were in the room. I do not know whether other politicians were in attendance besides me.

I call on the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe to come to the House to discuss what Dr. Barrett said. What is his vision for the future of education? Dr. Barrett said that the nanotechnologies of the future on which industries will be based are dependent on science and mathematics. Naturally, we will always need the humanities, but we must increase our standard of education in science. He said that 35% of mathematics teachers in secondary school are not even graduates in mathematics and science. They are not qualified to teach it. He also succinctly said that when the Fianna Fáil-driven Government-----