Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As it is linked, will the Cathaoirleach allow me to congratulate former President, Mary McAleese, on her appointment as the chair of the body which will examine the future of higher education in Europe? It was launched yesterday at the European Commission by the European education Commissioner and Mary McAleese. There is no better person to judge what is needed and to lead the process into examining it. We should reflect on what is needed in our third level education system and submit proposals to this European body, particularly for second language teaching in secondary schools and universities. Without being parochial, half the jobs created by PayPal in Dundalk cannot be filled by Irish people because they do not have the necessary second language skills. I hope the next generation of workers will be Irish and will have such language skills.