Vol. 550 No. 1
198 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Science the data available on the need for science graduates (details supplied); if data exists for graduates in recent years; if their progress is tracked; if data on numbers outside their sector is available; if there is a particular agency or employer where a qualified person can seek appropriate work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7433/02]
As the Deputy will be aware, recent changes in the economy have highlighted the need for a workforce that is scientifically literate. As the National Competitiveness Council points out in its recently published, "National Competitiveness Challenge 2001", such an educational base is needed to provide a basis for future growth, to attract increasingly science-based international investment to Ireland, and to encourage successful entrepreneurship and innovation.
In late 1997, the Government set up the business, education and training partnership to develop national strategies to tackle the issue of skills needs, manpower needs estimation, and education and training for business. The expert group on future skills needs is one element of this partnership. In the course of its work, the expert group has examined the skills needs in a number of different sectors. In its second report, published in March 2000, the expert group expressed its concern over the number and quality of students choosing to study science at third level. These concerns were reiterated in the expert group's third report, published in July 2001. In response to such concerns, in October 2000 I established the task force on the physical sciences to address the issues in relation to the uptake of the sciences at both second and third level.
