Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank the Leader for extending the time. I complimented the Minister of State earlier on the Order of Business on being in Birr yesterday to launch the radio telescope. The family there has been at the centre of science in Ireland for many hundreds of years. It was a great endorsement by the Government.

Action No. 5.10 of Innovation 2020 is to "bring forward legislative proposals to implement reforms recommended by the Copyright Review Committee aimed specifically at exploring greater use of certain copyright exceptions to promote innovation." I have a present for the Minister of State. We did that in the Copyright and Related Rights (Innovation) (Amendment) Bill 2015. We got the people associated with that review to write an explanatory memorandum and a Bill and I ask that it be brought forward in the time that is remaining. We were glad to make that contribution as we thought it was important. The Bill is on the Order Paper. I am sure the Leader will give the Minister of State the details. It is offered in that positive spirit.

We have a problem with STEM, particularly in primary schools, as previous Senators have said. It was a serious mistake for the two highest ranked universities in Ireland, TCD and UCD, to virtually opt out of teacher training. My model is that the maths department in a university should be teaching maths to teachers of maths. Separating it into separate teacher training colleges under that cluster arrangement was wrong. The teaching of maths to teachers of maths is much more important than teaching maths to people who will become stockbrokers or accountants.