Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will probably not need eight minutes. I thank the Minister of State for coming in to debate this excellent subject, which focuses on the future of our country and on our youth. Picking up on Senator White's very good speech earlier, I bring the Minister of State's attention to the New York Academy of Sciences, which has announced the global STEM alliance. This alliance brings world-class curricula and mentoring to students of all ages, anywhere, to fulfil the unmet needs of nations needing highly skilled workers in science, technology, engineering and maths. The initiative aims to meet a particularly critical need to feed economic development by creating a STEM-literate population and inspiring children around the world to pursue STEM interests and careers. In April 2014, I brought this to the attention of the Minister for Education and Skills, who very kindly responded. Although the Department recognised the need to provide ready access to STEM career role models and pathways, it said that at the moment, the Government had no plans to interact internationally but was incorporating STEM for students in primary and post-primary schools. I bring this innovation to the attention of the Minister of State this evening and will e-mail him the information.

If we were to pretend we were young and I said Senator White could join this alliance, she would be very excited. The members of the alliance can interact and discuss science, technology and maths with counterparts in participating cities, including cities in the United States, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, the UK, Poland, Serbia, Kuwait, Qatar, China, India, Nigeria, Mali and so on, but Ireland has not joined. Students can participate in mentoring relationships with the most brilliant early-career scientists around the world. Each country that joins the global STEM alliance will bring its best and brightest into this elite network of mentors, providing advice, career guidance and STEM inspiration. They can elect to take cutting-edge science courses from leading educational organisations, either online or through scholarships, and learn what a day in the life of a scientist is like for those who work for major STEM companies like ExxonMobil, Rockwell, Lockheed, Cisco, Infosys and Goldman Sachs. They can get advice on entrepreneurship and innovation and build career resumé points and a network of global elite science peers for life.

Through the wonderful world of the web, the social media hub that is being built among this STEM global network is something that our young people should join. I thought I would bring that to the attention of the House this evening as a little bit of information. If Senator White and I were a couple of years younger, we would join this alliance.