Mary White (Fianna Fail)

This morning I did an interview with a transition year student from Blackrock College on the reform of the Seanad and I commended Senator Cummins on introducing reform whereby Ministers take questions here and on how that has opened up debate. We are only beginning with this and it is not fully established, but I complimented the Senator in my interview on Blackrock College radio. I would like the Leader to take on board the request of the Sinn Féin Members to be given an equal amount of time for questions. We can continue to improve and I see nothing wrong with giving them parity because their contributions are informed and interesting. I encourage the Leader to support their request.

I call for an urgent debate on education in Ireland. The Financial Times is the most influential newspaper in the world and on 7 November, it printed an article by Dr. Thomas Begley, who spent seven years as dean of the business school in UCD. In his article he complimented the lecturers, academics and students, and highlighted the fact that the IDA brands Ireland as an island of innovation. It is a pity that Senator Healy Eames, an authority on education, is not present, but Senator Barrett is. Mr. Begley stated that there is a growing gap between rhetoric and reality in Irish education, that the standard has decreased in the primary and secondary schools and that standards are slipping in Ireland by comparison with other OECD countries.

Two years ago, Mr. Craig Barrett, the previous chairman of Intel, drew our attention to our poor performance in mathematics. We need an urgent discussion on the education system. How in God's name can we continue to attract multinationals to the State if the students emerging from our universities have obtained qualifications by rote and by having good memories and if they are not taught to analyse? We all know that, in many cases, those who have the best memories get the highest points in the leaving certificate examinations. We will not be able to compete with the multinationals if our third level graduates cannot analyse, critique and argue. This morning, I urged three transition year students not to learn material off by heart and instead learn to analyse, critique and deliver. I asked them to be action people and deliver the goods.

There is such competition internationally to attract multinationals that we must adopt the correct approach. Our secondary and third level education systems are being starved of resources. The people do not understand. We agree unanimously that education is the key to human development and job prospects.