John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister should examine the entire issue and the nuance of their statement. They stated that the data to date had not given a particular reason to be worried about an earthquake. This was not unreasonable. There are no data that can be used to predict earthquakes.

We live in a world in which nearly half of the citizens of the most powerful country with the largest economy believe that the world is only 6,000 years old, dinosaurs co-existed with humans, climate change is a vast, left-wing conspiracy, women possibly cannot get pregnant as a result of rape, vaccines cause autism, worrying about obesity in young children may cause eating disorders, there has been a vast outbreak of congenital malformations relating to the Chernobyl tragedy of approximately 30 years ago - we now know that that tragedy has caused zero congenital malformations in the 27 or so years since its occurrence - homosexuality is a learned behaviour and one can become infected by having gay teachers, cancer is caused by a variety of different factors, schizophrenia is caused by one's mother giving one conflicted views, etc. A great deal of bad policy can arise from having a citizenry that does not know about science and the scientific method.

When I recently gave a talk at one of the Dublin festivals related to the innovation fair, I made the case for thoughtfulness and the use of the scientific method in areas that were not scientific. It is the ability to leave ideologies and beliefs at the door, examine the facts and try to reach conclusions. Our citizenry would be more rational, better informed and less prone to bizarre ideas if they understood science and its beauty instead of viewing it as something that must be turgidly learned, for example, repeating the periodic table of elements or the structure of DNA, information that is probably only relevant to people who will need it at career level. They must understand the method of science and that it is not an obscure act practised by people in white coats. Science is all around us everyday.

All education, including the junior certificate course, should have a strong foundation in the scientific method. To show that I am not a hard-hearted man, I also believe it essential and a cornerstone of the education system that everyone who finishes school should be able to speak and read at least one contemporary language other than their native language. People need the core academic skills of English, maths, sciences and at least one language. I wish the Minister all the best in his attempts to reform this and other parts of the curriculum.