Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My point was that people who did not have a qualification in a subject should not be teaching it. Teachers with only a leaving certificate qualification in a science subject are really only one step ahead of the pupils they are teaching. I am arguing for a more coherent connection between education departments and teacher training colleges, on the one hand, and science departments, on the other. The model of teacher training I am espousing is one where science teachers would be trained alongside other science students rather than separately in teacher training institutions. Unfortunately, in keeping with ancient tradition in this country, there has been a turf war about which students go where and so on.

Removing rural science and nature study from the primary school curriculum was done to make room for Irish and was a mistake. The same is true of continental languages. As Senator John Crown observed, the excessive concentration on grammar rather than spoken Irish has taken up a great deal of time from the rest of the curriculum. The success of Science Week is important in that regard and there is scope for expansion. I hope we do not see any more mistakes in the leaving certificate maths paper such as we saw this year. Aspiring to something at national level while failing to realise it where 18 year olds doing the leaving certificate examination and younger people doing the junior certificate examination are concerned lets the side down.

We need other dedicated weeks in addition to Science Week. Policy is frequently implemented without being scientifically thought out, not in the Minister of State's Department but in Departments in general. There is a culture of amateurism in public administration and a dreaded culture of amateurism in banking, finance, accounting, auditing and the construction industry. How did we end up with pyrite in so many houses while fancying this as a "smart economy"? Knowledge is key and we will support the Minister of State in that regard.

It was interesting to hear Senator Feargal Quinn talk about Professor E. T. S. Watson who went from Tipperary to Cambridge and returned home each year. It was relevant to Senator Thomas Byrne's reference to the take-up of physics. I have met female graduates from Cambridge and what they remember most about Professor Walton is not the Nobel prize he won but the fact that in junior freshman lectures he sought out women who had been to schools where physics was not taught. It remains the case in many schools today that physics is not offered.

Science needs to learn to communicate to the next generation, the 16 and 18 year olds. There are more important measures of output than academic journals which many people might not read. If we succeed in getting through to good students, they will communicate their enthusiasm for the subject. That is key. The emphasis, however, seems to be on the peculiar system of reviewing scientific research where it is a case of the more authors the better. To the economist, that signifies lower productivity rather than higher productivity, but it is apparently necessary to add 17 or 18 authors, all of whom will be promoted as a result.

There are clear gaps in our knowledge and we must not be overcome by the type of hyperbole that suggests otherwise. We were tempting fate when we claimed that Ireland had a smart economy. In fact, it was one of the dopiest economies ever in 2008. We must be careful not to get carried away with self-praise. The reform of education and learning is vital, yet it seemed like the goal of facilitating research and development had become an artificial goal when the Finance Act last year included a provision to reduce the amount of time engaged in that activity, from 75% to 50%, in order to qualify for a tax break. In effect, one is paying twice as much for the research one receives. That relief ought to be more firmly targeted to ensure it is going to those who are conducting research and development all the time, rather than giving a full subsidy to people who are engaged in that work only half of the time. We will be discussing that issue when the Finance Bill is brought before the House.

Some of the people who make representations to the Minister of State are seeking subsidies for themselves. Distinguishing rent-seeking, subsidy-seeking and grant-hunting from genuinely productive education activities is a difficult task, but we will assist him in it. Science Week and the extension of scientific knowledge in general are very good ideas. I assure the Minister of State of our support in his endeavours. He is always welcome in this House.