Members and distinguished visitors are very welcome. On behalf of the joint committee, I extend a warm welcome to the delegation from the committee on education, science, culture and health of the National People's Congress of China. General Tang and his colleagues are warmly welcomed to our Houses of Parliament. Let me introduce the members of the joint committee present. They are Deputies Devins, McGrath and Kelly and Senator Walsh. Deputy Kelly is the Vice Chairman and was a member of the delegation which visited the delegates' fine country in 2006.
Visit of Chinese Delegation.
I had a great time.
I invite General Tang to introduce his colleagues.
General Tang Tianbao
We are very glad to have the opportunity to visit Ireland. This is the first time all members of the delegation have visited and I thank the Chairman for taking the time to receive us. Please allow me to introduce the members of the delegation. Mr. Zhu Yongxin is a member of the standing committee of the National People's Congress and a member of the education, science, culture and public health committee. He is also chairman of the Chinese association for promoting democracy. Ms Pang Lijuan is also a member of the standing committee of the National People's Congress and a member of the education, science, culture and public health committee. Mr. Chen Guangjun is director of the science and technology office of the education, science, culture and public health committee. Ms Fang Guangwei is deputy director of the education office of the committee, while Mr. Zhang Wu is an office worker in the administration office of the committee. He also works for the general office. Committee members will know Mr. Liu Biwei as the ambassador.
The purpose of the delegation's visit is to learn about the Irish Legislature and its enactments relating to science and technology innovation, the protection of intellectual property rights and education. We also hope to exchange some ideas and extend co-operation between our two committees. Perhaps we can discuss other issues about which we are both concerned.
I thank General Tang. The Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources represents both Houses of Parliament. It has 11 Members of the Lower House, the Dáil, and four Members of the Upper House, the Seanad. Its role is to shadow a Cabinet Minister in the portfolios outlined in the workings of the Government and committee system. Legislation to be enacted by the Houses of Parliament comes before a select committee on Committee Stage. Since the new Members of Parliament were elected, we have dealt with three pieces of legislation, the last of which, an important piece of legislation, was dealt with yesterday. The committee also has the power to invite interested groups, organisations and businesses to make presentations before it. The committee meets once a week, at which meetings we normally have before us an organisation which makes a presentation under one of the headings dealt with by the committee. Ministers and Ministers of State also come before the committee to make presentations on aspects of their portfolios. We are mandated to look at European Union legislation and how it will affect the portfolios with which the committee deals. The committee is one of the more active in the Houses of Parliament.
At this juncture, I welcome Deputy McManus, the Labour Party spokesperson on communications, energy and natural resources. I introduce Deputy Coonan of the Fine Gael Party and Senator Corrigan of the Government party. I invite General Tang to address the committee.
General Tang Tianbao
I thank the Chairman for his introduction. The education, science, culture and public health committee has 36 members, including its chairman and vice chairman. Our committee is responsible for the enactment of legislation in the fields of education, science, culture, public health and sport. That is our main responsibility. All views concerning these fields are proposed in the first place to the committee before they are put before the National People's Congress. After we receive a Bill and before we pass it, we seek suggestions. After investigation and discussions, if we think the Bill is proper, we present it to the National People's Congress for discussion and approval. After discussion in the National People's Congress, the Bill is sent to the standing committee of the National People's Congress for discussion. If that committee approves it, the Bill is passed.
Normally, a Bill is checked three times before it is finally decided to give effect to it. Some laws must be discussed or approved more than three times. Legislation in these fields forms an important component of the Chinese legislation system. During the years we have made great progress in legislating in the fields of science, technology and education and seen some dramatic improvements in all of them. We have many laws in the area of education, including those regarding compulsory education, education in standard Chinese, vocational education, teacher's law and academic degrees. In the area of science and technology we have patent law, laws concerning improvements in science and technology, laws concerning the alleviation of earthquake damage and the popularising of science and technology. In the area of culture we have laws for the protection of cultural relics, on archives and copyright protection.
We understand that since the 1980s, the Irish Government has adopted many flexible and good policies which have stimulated science and technology development and encouraged innovation in these fields, thereby promoting social progress. From the statistics we know that Ireland's GDP increased by over 10% in some consecutive years. There was a leap from an economy of developing agriculture and husbandry to a very new industrial economy. We know the economic recession has had an impact on this country but we also know that Ireland has adopted a correct policy to change the situation. It has maintained a very stable economy.
One of the important purposes of our delegation is to learn about how the Irish Parliament uses the law as a power to help to sustain the economy and protect people's interests and how it protects intellectual property and sustains national education development. I thank the committee.
I am glad to say the committee includes Deputy Devins, a former Minister of State with responsibility for science and technology. Unlike the Chinese system, this committee does not deal with education and science matters; rather they are dealt with by a separate committee of the Oireachtas.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I welcome the delegation and apologise that I was a little late. That is the nature of Parliament.
This committee deals with energy issues. I appreciate that the delegation does not deal directly with such issues, but I wish to ask a question. On education, how does China encourage young people to study science and technology? It is interesting that in this country with the recession there are more students and young people entering third level education. There are now more students than farmers. I put the question because we must have more science and engineering students because there are significant issues related to energy. More than 90% of our energy comes from fossil fuels, including oil and gas. We are preparing for the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen. For us, it is a significant challenge. It is obviously also a significant challenge for China because it has been so successful in developing its economy. However, climate change is an issue for all of us.
I will provide the delegation with a copy of a report carried out by another committee on our approach to climate change legislation. The report is for all political parties on which to work together. All countries must work together in this regard. The delegation is very welcome and I look forward to hearing what it has to say.
Mr. Zhu Yongxin
These are very interesting and important topics, about which we are all very concerned. In the Chinese education system we include the subjects of science and technology in schools. We reformed our college entrance examination system in the late 1970s — during 1978 and 1979. Afterwards, science and technology played an important and major part in the Chinese higher education system. After the 1990s, we included modern science and technology in our primary and secondary school curriculum. On the one hand, there are courses in science and technology in our compulsory education system and, on the other, there are activity centres to which children interested in science and technology can go to participate and acquire more knowledge.
Chinese parents pay great attention to mathematics and computer science. We also have some awards to encourage Chinese students to take science and technology courses. We also encourage students to participate in competitions such as the international mathematics olympiad. However, there are also problems in our education system. We pay too much attention to force feeding all this knowledge into the brains of children. We do not provide enough training to improve their skills. We must admit one of the important purposes of the Chinese education system is to allow students to pass tests.
A member of the committee referred to climate change. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the issue, not only in the interests of the Chinese people but also in the interests of people throughout the world. Last month the National People's Congress held an extensive discussion on the issue. It is most important that developed countries play a dual role in changing the climate warming trends.
Developing countries, including China, are still at the primary development stage and our average emission standard is still lower than most developed countries. We are not only considering this issue from the average emissions standards point of view, but also the historical aspect because the industrial development process of the developed countries has played a major role in the emissions problem. The Chinese Government and the National People's Congress pay great attention and attach great importance to the Copenhagen UN meeting. China is a very responsible country and wants to play a very active and responsible role in the upcoming meeting. We are also looking forward to participating in more international activities in changing the global climate. All Chinese provinces have set out standards for carbon dioxide emissions. We are not only willing to increase our economy, but also want to control emissions and pollution in our country.
I join with the Chairman and other members in welcoming the delegation. I am very conscious of the importance of China in the modern world and the fantastic developments which have occurred there in the past number of years. Visits such as this and the one the committee made to China some years ago are very important in building inter-cultural and international communications. I am also very conscious of the prestigious members of the committee and how many of them are standing members of the standing committee of the National People's Congress.
As former Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science with special responsibility for science, technology and innovation, I believe there is great scope to develop communication and links between China and Ireland. I hope, arising from the delegation's visit today, that there will be more communication and a further exchange of students at PhD level between China and Ireland. I have one question. I notice the standing committee is on education, science, culture and public health. I would be grateful if the delegation could explain how it fits public health in with science, culture and education. I hope the delegation has a very enjoyable visit.
We do not have much time so before I ask the delegation to respond, some other members wish to make brief contributions.
On behalf of Fine Gael I welcome the delegation. I met the Indian ambassador a number of months ago and he informed me that the population increase every two months in India was equivalent to the population of Ireland. I would like to know the scale of the population increase in China. What is the exact number of university graduates in China? What are the population percentages at primary, second and third level?
Other issues which are very important and could be of real benefit to Ireland and China are research on food and the production of food in terms of GM crops. The feeding of the population of China is an achievement in itself. What likely work does China need to continue to try to ensure that it is providing clean water to its population? I am trying to visualise the scale because it is almost incomprehensible for us, as a small island nation with a population of five million people, how one can try to feed and provide water to such a large population. There is a magnificent opportunity for research at fourth level between our universities which could be of benefit to China and Ireland.
Ms Pang Lijuan
We know the Irish economy developed at a very quick speed over the past number of years and developed important transmission systems. It has also made important progress in and contributed a lot to the use of green energy, including wind power.
We want to learn from the Irish experience how the Government uses laws to encourage the development of science and technology. How does it encourage science and technology education in universities to stimulate innovation? What is the Government's role in legislating for innovation in science and technology?
As I explained previously, education is outside the remit of this committee but in respect of energy and green energy——
The main role of the State is to provide free education at primary, second and third levels. If one is capable of advancing the State will pay for education up to a certain level.
Ms Pang Lijuan
How does the Government integrate scientific and technological innovation with education in those institutions?
It is part of the school curriculum. There is a problem that it was not very attractive for students to study science, particularly engineering. In some girls' schools it is not possible to study higher level mathematics. There is more encouragement now and this year the figures are improving and we are attracting more students into science and engineering.
The universities and the third level institutes try to make partnerships with industry and research groups. There are some non-governmental organisations funding research and at fourth level they commit to that research on behalf of a company in conjunction with the institute.
On the question of green energy, the Government has a target to generate 40% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Some of the big electricity generators have made presentations to this committee and say we will reach this target, mainly by wind energy. Apart from rain, one of the things we have in abundance here is wind.
I am conscious of the time and that the delegation must meet the Ceann Comhairle. We are very pleased that the delegation could come to meet this committee. Most of the members of the delegation are meeting us for lunch so perhaps we can have an informal discussion then to tease out some of the issues they have raised. I wish them a pleasant stay in our country.
General Tang Tianbao
We are very grateful for the invitation to meet this committee.
The joint committee adjourned at 12.40 p.m. until 9.45 a.m. on Wednesday, 18 November 2009.