I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Sean Sherlock.
Science Week: Statements
I thank the House for giving me the opportunity to speak about Science Week. This week, from 10 to 17 November, Ireland will reverberate with the sights and sounds of science when Science Week 2013 takes place. There is a lot of alliteration in that sentence. Now in its seventh year, Science Week is a national initiative co-ordinated by Science Foundation Ireland's Discover programme that allows everybody to embrace science by way of an enormous range of events taking place the length and breadth of the country. The aim of Science Week is to promote the relevance of science, engineering and technology in our everyday lives and demonstrate the importance of these disciplines to the future development of Irish society and the national economy.
The theme of Science Week 2013, Exploring the Extraordinary, provides people with the opportunity to explore what is happening behind the scenes of everyday life and to look at the extraordinary processes that make up the ordinary parts of our lives. Last year more than 200,000 people participated in hundreds of events run by schools, colleges, libraries, teachers, researchers and students throughout the country. There are more than 770 events registered on the Science Week website for this year and even more events will take place during the week. Despite the pressure on limited resources that everyone faces, Science Week keeps going from strength to strength and every year event organisers have seen a rise in attendance, year on year.
The Discover Science and Engineering, DSE, programme has been a considerable supporter of Science Week during the years. Administration of the DSE programme was taken over by Science Foundation Ireland last year and as the Discover programme, it continues to successfully develop and implement effective ways of engaging students, teachers and the public in the STEM subjects, namely, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The overall objectives are to increase the numbers of students studying the physical sciences, promote a positive attitude to careers in STEM and foster a greater understanding of science and its value to Irish society. Achieving this requires close interaction with third level institutions and intermediate audiences such as industry and the media. The programme aims to make a co-ordinated effort to increase interest in STEM and encourage young people to consider STEM areas as viable career options. Apart from a comprehensive events and activities programme, the programme's web portal features links to relevant programmes and areas.
Some examples of Discover-DSE initiatives are the Discover Primary Science and Maths website, aimed at primary school teachers and pupils; Greenwave, a mass science experiment involving primary schools on the arrival of spring in Ireland; Nanoquest, a project that uses video gaming to encourage 13 to 15 year old school students to develop an interest in nanotechnology and science generally; ESERO, under which Discover partnered with the European Space Agency to establish the European Space Education Resource Office, ESERO, a programme to inspire and engage young people in STEM subjects; ProjectBlogger, a site that allows teachers and second level students in Ireland to create blogs based on their science experiences and interests; My Science Career, a website that brings together resources for finding out more about a career in STEM and includes information on careers in a number of STEM areas, including ICT; science.ie, which provides a wide range of information on science, technology, engineering and mathematics to stimulate young people's interest in these areas; and Smart Futures, a national campaign for second level students in Ireland, highlighting career opportunities in information and communications technology, ICT, in association with the annual e-Skills Week. These are all initiatives capable of exciting, stimulating and inspiring young people, which is exactly what we need to achieve.
This is extremely important as the Government remains committed to the vision of using research and innovation to generate jobs and economic growth so that scientific innovation and new technologies will shape the future for the next generation of our students. The jobs agenda is writ large all over this Administration's programme for Government, as we seek to deliver qualified and high-quality personnel to take up jobs in both foreign direct investment enterprise and indigenous enterprise. We are also pursuing the provision of highly skilled employment by repositioning Irish enterprise higher up the value chain. The Government is working towards this vision through many complementary initiatives, one such being research prioritisation. The research prioritisation exercise identified priority areas that will build on Ireland's existing research strengths. They will also have the potential to deliver sustainable economic return through enterprise development, employment growth, job retention and tangible improvements to quality of life. The report of the research prioritisation steering group recommended 14 areas of opportunity, as well as underpinning technologies and infrastructure to support these priority areas. The areas were identified on the basis of existing strengths of the public research system, existing strengths of the enterprise base, opportunities that exist in the global marketplace and those which are most likely to deliver economic and societal impact, as well as jobs.
The report also made 13 systemic recommendations which were required to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the science, technology and innovation, STI, system to support the implementation of prioritisation. The 14 priority areas cover a diverse spectrum of activities including data analytics management, security and privacy, connected health and independent living, food for health, marine renewable energy, and smart grids and smart cities.
The Government agreed to the adoption of the research prioritisation steering group's recommendations as a whole-of-government policy goal and with regard to the future alignment of the majority of public STI investment with these 14 areas of opportunity. Following publication of the steering group's report on 1 March 2012, the prioritisation action group, PAG, was established under my chairmanship and political leadership to drive implementation of research prioritisation under the broader authority of the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and jobs. The group meets in plenary and has set an ambitious pace for implementation. It is supported by a range of working groups established to progress implementation between plenary sessions. Action plans designed to identify the actions required across research funding organisations to realign the majority of competitive public research funding around the priority areas have been developed for each priority area. Engagement with relevant stakeholders on the draft action plans took place at the end of 2012. The action plans were approved by the Government in June 2013 and published in July 2013.
To oversee their implementation in a holistic manner, each action plan has been assigned a champion who, in almost all cases, chaired the relevant working group which developed the plan. This is providing the forum to pave the way for an efficient process for the implementation of the plans. At the first meeting of champions, it was agreed the plans should remain live and evolve over time to ensure they can respond to real-time market developments and opportunities. The PAG will oversee implementation of the plans.
Moreover, a detailed framework of metrics and targets has been drawn up as part of research prioritisation to measure the outputs and impact of funding provided, which will comprehend all of the 14 action plans for the respective priority areas. This too was approved by the Government in June 2013.
There will also be ongoing monitoring and reporting of developments of the systemic recommendations contained in the report of the research prioritisation steering group. For the second pillar, 13 systemic changes are necessary to support prioritisation by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the STI system. The PAG is also making significant progress.
In June 2012 an intellectual property protocol was published outlining new structures to encourage more businesses to commercialise research and development by ensuring they could access the results of State-funded, effectively taxpayer funded, research and development with greater clarity and certainty. The PAG is also considering how application procedures for research funding can be adjusted to assess relevance to, and impact on, priority areas, as well as assessing excellence, with Science Foundation Ireland already leading the way in this regard.
In response to recommendations to align supply and demand of trained researchers, the Irish Research Council has rolled out an employment-based PhD and masters programme where awardees will be employees with the majority of time spent in-company. In response to the recommendation that research centres be more industry-focused, on 25 February the largest ever State-industry co-funded research investment was announced. This investment of €300 million is made up of €200 million of Exchequer funding and a €100 million co-investment by over 150 industry partners. This level of industry commitment is sure evidence of the value and potential of the research that will be carried out in each of the seven new world class SFI research centres established. These are research centres of excellence and scale. Under the awards programme, they will be funded over six years, support key growth areas and undertake research into major social challenges, including health, communications and energy. A capability to add "research spokes" around the original "hub" will make them more adaptable to account for changing circumstances and emerging research challenges.
To return to Science Week, I cannot over-emphasise how important it is as an annual national awareness raising event. It is an exciting collaboration of events run by colleges, schools, libraries, teachers, researchers and students throughout Ireland. Science Week has become an important event in many people's calendars and it is truly inspirational to see the numbers who turn out and support all of the events each year. Event organisers across the country become actively involved with Science Week each year and it is their dedication and hard work that make the week the success that it is. This year there are new key elements. A new festival in the midlands is bringing top-class exhibitions, workshops and talks, including Trinity College Dublin's Luke O'Neill and Canadian neuroscientist Deborah Saucier, to venues in counties Offaly, Westmeath and Laois.
A major new hub is being created in Temple Bar in Dublin this weekend where there will be a free experiential event at the Gallery of Photography, a free family event at Filmbase, a kids' science show at City Hall, as well as physics buskers on the streets. It is also encouraging that, yet again, festivals in Cork, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Waterford and Limerick are all running an extensive programme of events this year.
Evidence from research carried out in 2012 by DSE, now the Discover programme, suggested the 18-24 year age cohort still did not consider science and technology industries interesting. Last year Science Week set out to change that perception and follow on, like for like research showed that among that age group interest had increased by 7% in science and 8% in engineering. Most of our children's career opportunities will be built around harnessing new and evolving technologies that are only now establishing themselves. It is critically important that we give students a window into these industries and the experiences of people working in them. It is also vital that we ensure students are engaging in science and scientific thinking at an early age. We must continue to encourage young school students to engage with scientific learning and thinking which, in turn, will encourage them to consider studying STEM subjects at second and third level.
Science Week serves as a magnet that continues to attract inquiring young students to the world of science and it stimulates their awareness of the many possibilities and pathways that study in this area will offer them. Therefore, I urge all Senators to check out scienceweek.ie and attend or promote as many events as possible. Not only will they be pleasantly surprised by the huge voluntary effort that has gone into the organisation of the week, but I also guarantee that they will, as I have done, learn and be entertained at the same time.
I congratulate Deputy Sherlock on his activities to date as Minister of State with responsibility for science and innovation and on the passion he has put into his work. I know his father, looking down, will be very proud of him.
Science Week promises to be a very beneficial initiative to bring science closer to the people. Science Week also awards us the unique opportunity to examine the role science can play in addressing major societal challenges such as poverty and hunger. While science plays a central role in the lives of everyone, it is important that we use this initiative to bring science closer to our younger people in particular.
I am hopeful that national Science Week 2013 encourages participating students to become more engaged with science subjects because I believe science is a core part of employment creation and retention. We must rethink science education in our schools in order to ensure scientific subjects become a more attractive option for our young students. As the Minister of State also has responsibility in the Department of Education and Skills, I urge him to address the very important aspect of curriculum development and reform of STEM subjects. Concentrating efforts to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics more vibrant and interesting subjects to students in our primary and secondary level schools and colleges must be a key objective for the Government.
In the Irish societal context, rethinking our education system must be a high priority to ensure our young people are prepared for the very different world and jobs market they will be facing in the future. I suggest that we make STEM subjects more practical. I watched a programme on Discovery Channel the other night which explained the way the earth, moon and sun interact to teenagers. One child acted as the sun, another as the moon and so on, and the programme explained the concept in a simple way that made it very comprehensible, rather than just having those involved read theoretically from a book on how the solar system works. It was fascinating and I wish I had learned it like that at school. Giving students something they can reach out and touch, and get excited about while in the classroom, will keep them engaged with the subject matter.
Last week in this House, I spoke about the brilliant German system of dual education. The German dual education system requires that students spend up to 70% of their time in third level in the workplace of offices, shop floors and foundries in an apprenticeship capacity and the remaining 30% in the classroom. I raise this with the Minster of State in his dual capacity in regard to research and innovation and also in regard to education and skills because I believe it is urgent that we establish a similar system in Ireland. We are behind the times in our narrow-minded focus on preparation for the jobs that are available in the market. It is clear that education which adopts an enhanced practical approach is working. Angela Merkel and David Cameron have expressed the belief that the German system of dual education, which champions a practical approach, is the best way to tackle youth unemployment.
Science Week 2013 is an important part of Discover Science and Engineering, DSE, which is Ireland's national science awareness programme. The programme aims to contribute to Ireland's growth and development as a knowledge economy, keeping us among the world's most competitive economies so that we can attract foreign direct investment. If this ideal is to become a reality, the Government must do the groundwork to ensure that enough of our young people choose careers in the relevant sectors.
It is vitally important that initiatives such as Science Week assist young people at all levels of education to recognise the very promising career opportunities that are available in the enterprise economy and realistically attainable through the study of science. Over the past decade, Ireland has built a quality research capability. The time is now right to more aggressively develop the translational part of the discovery-to-delivery continuum. Ireland is excelling in a range of key scientific disciplines such as immunology, nano technology, materials science, genetics and genomics. Initiatives such as Science Week give us an opportunity to promote the progress that we have made and highlight the future possibilities a career in science can offer our young people. Research and innovation are of critical importance when one considers their potential role in contributing to economic recovery and growth. This is why we must prioritise intensifying the relationship between science and our primary, second, third and fourth level students in order to nurture and encourage a new generation of researchers and innovators who will create enterprise, jobs and growth within our economy.
I thank the Minister of State for being in attendance to discuss the important topic of Science Week. Therefore, it was important to set aside time for it today and this week. The debate affords us the opportunity to air our views and even promote the initiative.
As we all know, science is extremely important to the economy and for community and societal development. Science Week has been in existence since 1996. The Discover Science & Engineering programme has been very successful. It has worked extremely well and encourages primary and secondary school students to take up science and pursue it as a career by studying the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths. The objective of Science Week is to increase awareness among parents, teachers and the general community of the value of science. The initiative has a successful track record and will continue its work.
Earlier this month Forfás published a report by its Expert Group on Future Skills Needs that addressed future demand for ICT skills and information and communications technology. The report indicated a continued demand for high level ICT skills across the economy. It also reckons that 44,500 jobs will have to be filled by graduates and skilled professionals and demand will continue right up to 2018. Of course the report recommended various initiatives that could and should be taken. It also recommended a continuance of the current initiatives such as focusing on mainstream education, training such as the conversion and reskilling programmes, and continual professional development for teachers and graduates who work in disciplines that no longer provide employment. We must also attract experienced international talent, including ex-pats, in order to develop an awareness and contribute to further employment creation in the economy.
The report by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs is one of a series of reports. They are very important because they highlight the area, focus on vacancies and play a strong role in promoting the sector which can be proven because the number of computer graduates has increased by 25% over the past two years. A target was set to double the number of computer graduates by 2018 but it looks like we will reach that target by 2015. That is positive news.
The words "ICT sector" turns many people off. As the Minister of State said himself, the ICT sector does not engage 18 to 24 year olds and they are uninterested. However, ICT is not just about technology, computing or coding. It covers a wide range of jobs such as web development, special effects for film and the arts, selling to customers, customer services and more. We need to get that point across.
Hear, hear.
It is not just for a narrow focus. Nine of the ten top software companies are established here, including Intel, Dell, Microsoft, IBM, Apple, HP, Facebook and Google. As it accounts for one third of our exports it is hugely important for the economy. Eight of the ten top pharmaceutical companies are located here. This is a very important sector for the economy and guarantees job security. For every one job created in the IBMs, the Dells or the Microsofts, there is another one to 1.4 jobs in the community, an issue that needs to be highlighted.
I really like the theme of Science Week. It appeals across the community and to parents and teachers to encourage careers in this area. This is the time of year we hear about parent-teacher meetings. I know from attending them there was always a queue for the language teachers. In the previous eight or nine years the focus was on business. The science, physics and applied maths teachers always had the shorter queues. I do not think that has changed much, despite the fact that those subjects are extremely important. Those students are no different from any other students and they have the potential to study those subjects to honours level, as required.
There are many openings in the area which can be satisfying because technology crosses all sectors of our lives. The companies whose operations are located here serve global markets, therefore languages are important. The fact is that technology contributes to a very meaningful industry and is available on the doorstep to many young people and those who are not so young who may have participated in the ICT action plan.
In summary, does the Minister of State plan to have a review of the ICT action plan and particularly the graduate conversion programmes which were introduced very quickly and were successful in many cases? Many individuals who had a profession that was no longer relevant could avail of those conversion programmes. The quality of the programmes is important. That message needs to be developed to ensure positive results. As the ICT action plan will be in place for two years in January 2014, a review of the conversion programmes, in particular, is extremely important.
As the Minister of State is responsible for research, an area that has come to my attention, on which he might wish to comment, is PhD students and the payment they receive. I was contacted by a female who is doing research and is being paid a stipend, not a salary. She is a mother of two young children who has lost the one-parent family payment. When I made inquiries of the Minister for Social Protection I found it was because the money that is paid to PhD students is not insurable income. Therefore, such students are not entitled to sick pay, maternity pay and other means-tested benefits.
My understanding is that in other European Union countries, not in the UK, the payment to postgraduates is considered insurable income. Many of these students are in their mid to late 20s and may have transferred straight from undergraduate level but are still treated as students while their peers may be earning, investing in mortgages and having children. They are still treated as students by the legal, tax and social welfare systems here. A move towards a recognised status with the normal payments made towards social welfare and pension systems would certainly strengthen the general professionalism and recognition of a doctoral student's studies. As it is a subject the Minister of State may have covered already or may have encountered it previously, I would be interested to hear his comments.
I commend the Minister of State on his important support for science and research. The figures for the uptake of computing and core science subjects show that our efforts are bearing fruit. The 25 bonus points initiative for maths was a positive move. It may not be the be-all-and-end-all for everybody, but it made a strong statement on the part of the State that maths is important and that we want to give bonus points to people of that calibre who take on maths at higher level.
I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I am delighted that science is part of his portfolio. I was very fortunate to attend Newbridge College, back in the 1950s, where we had a marvellous science teacher, Fr. Michael Casey. Everybody did science. We had a great laboratory and a great teacher. Later on, Fr. Casey became a professor of science in Maynooth. We studied physics, chemistry, physiology and botany. It is important that we get our young people interested in and enthused about all of these areas of science. The concept of Science Week is important in encouraging children to become interested in science.
There are other things we could do to promote an interest in science. Do we need more of a push to promote science as a career rather than just as a subject? A group of legislators in the United States came up with a Bill recently to promote the creation of a science laureate who would be tasked with exciting children about careers in science. The Bill was defeated politically, but the question of how to promote science among students remains relevant, particularly in this country. Senator Clune's comments reminded us of this.
Should we consider getting more impetus at a political level? While science is taught in schools and while Science Week raises significant interest, it is interesting to see what is going on in the United States. There is a youth organisation in the US called the 4-H Club. This club has been around for a long time and was to do with agriculture originally. The 4-H stands for heart, head, hands and health. The club is administered by the US Department of Agriculture and it aims to spread science ideas among young people. Some 2 million children attend the group's clubs and camps, while millions more follow the 4-H programmes in schools. The group reaches approximately one out of every three children in farming in states such as Nebraska and it has a great focus on agriculture and the science behind it. I mention this club because I believe we should have a debate here on genetically modified foods. I believe there is a danger that we will lose out unless we consider the situation in this regard. If we who are in the agrifood business ignore the trends and changes, we are in serious danger of falling behind. Children in the 4-H clubs do a variety of projects such as looking after egg incubators in schools, dissecting a pig's eye, analysing farm animal diseases or starting their own organic farm projects. We should do something similar here. This is an American idea in that it twins the great outdoors with personal development and how to make money from it - what we call entrepreneurship.
Ireland remains an agricultural country and the fact the sector is making a comeback in recent times may be reason to consider the example of the 4-H Club. I know we have Macra na Feirme, but the 4-H Club's combining of hard science and agriculture and how to make money from them is very interesting. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, wants to introduce significant reform. Agricultural science would appear to be a logical step in that regard and would be more relevant than some of the current subjects taught. Some amazing things are happening in the area of personalised learning. Rocketship is a chain of seven charter schools in California that blend traditional teaching with at least one hour a day of individualised online instruction in mathematics, literature and comprehension. Its low-income students outperform those students living in the wealthiest districts of the same state.
Another school in North Carolina introduced personalised learning on laptops for all students aged ten and over in the year 2000. Between then and 2012, the proportion of the pupils considered proficient in maths, science and reading rose from 73% to 88%. Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, who follows developments in education technology and whose foundation funds some such developments, refers to this as a special time in education. We have a great deal to learn in respect of this matter.
Some years ago, I was very fortunate to get to know James Watson who, along with his colleague, Francis Crick, discovered the structure of DNA - the double helix - in 1953. Both were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. James Watson comes to Ireland every year, visits Trinity College and usually comes to our home. We have got to know him well and we have also visited him at his home. He is 85 years of age but it remains a joy to meet and speak to him. When he came to Ireland this year, a group of us arranged for him to unveil a lovely piece of sculpture - the double helix sculpture - in the Botanic Gardens. Anyone who has not already visited the latter should make a point of doing so. The Botanic Gardens are huge but they are also very educational. I am sure people will visit in much larger numbers in the future.
As stated on previous occasions, I would love to see greater focus on teaching entrepreneurship in schools, perhaps even at primary level. Entrepreneurship is taught in schools in Norway with support from, among others, that country's Ministry of Trade and Industry and local businesses. The Norwegian strategy is aimed at developing knowledge and comprehension relating to entrepreneurial activities in students in order to strengthen their belief in their own capabilities and creative force. I am of the view that science can help a great deal in this regard.
Science Week provides us with the opportunity to pursue that to which I refer with vigour, enthusiasm and a huge commitment that will benefit the entire country. I am delighted that this debate is taking place. I am strongly of the view that the efforts to promote Science Week will bear fruit not just immediately but also in the years to come. I congratulate the Minister of State on those efforts.
I welcome the Minister of State. It only seems like five minutes ago but a full 12 months have passed since we last discussed Science week. It has been a busy year. It is good to hear about all the many projects that were progressed and the advances that were made during those short 12 months. Dublin City University, DCU, has referred to a significant swing in the direction of STEM-based courses, which are now attracting more than 4,000 first preference applications. When we are seeking hard evidence with regard to progress being made, we can point to the fact that those in DCU are happy. There has been an increase in the number of first year students entering Sligo Institute of Technology this year. Part of the €35 million development programme at the institute involves the construction of an extension to the science block, which will house several lecture theatres, specialist laboratories and a 600-seat student restaurant. Of course I hope students will not spend all of their time in the latter. If the Minister of State visits Sligo IT this week, he will have the opportunity to try out the bed of nails which has been put in place.
I am already on a bed of nails.
Indeed. As previous speakers indicated, the purpose of Science Week is to try to make science exciting. The question which then arises relates to how to export that excitement back to the classroom. Senators White and Clune referred to the very real challenge which exists in this regard. We can have a week of terrific excitement, as should be the case, and we can celebrate that the fact that science is all about the world around us and that everything we do has some scientific basis. What has been the feedback with regard to how we might recreate the excitement to which I refer in the classroom?
I am aware, from speaking to a number of them, that secondary school students can become a bit bogged down in science in the early stages. This occurs at the very moment when a teacher wants them to stay with it. When, at the age of 13 or 14, they are still young enough to be excited and are not entirely cynical about the world, how do we keep them in that state of excitement where anything is possible? This is the best thing that Science Week brings out in students in the various locations throughout the country to which the Minister of State referred.
All my colleagues here are aware of places close to them where Science Week is working well. We can continue to celebrate Science Week and put on terrific events but how do we take that forward? Is there a bridging committee or piece of research to ensure that schools could take hold of even one or two of the best of those ideas in a simple way? I know from talking to science teachers in schools that they are always looking for ways to excite their students. Some of them are dedicated scientists in their own right who want to give to children what they got when they were studying, and they are trying to do that in a modern environment where they are fighting all the other distractions that steal children's time and attention. Is that something we could do?
It is worth patting ourselves on the back briefly in terms of those students who have done Ireland proud. For three years in a row we have won the European Union young scientist competition, which is no mean feat given the size of Ireland and the size of the competition. Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Throw from Kinsale Community School won this year. Their investigation into the effects of a particular form of bacteria on the germination of seeds is the kind of project that has been praised for its commercial potential in the agri-industry, something in which I know the Minister is particularly interested. He praised Professor Fergus Shanahan from UCC, my alma mater, on his award for researcher of the year and the work it is doing with Moorepark food research centre, all of which ties back to the agri-food industry.
In that regard I disagree with my colleague Senator Quinn because I would like to believe that Ireland's agriculture and food industries would be built on a GM-free environment. We must have that debate because we have moments where we disagree but I am sure we could have a rewarding conversation about that, which is something that would have an implication for the Minister's Department as well as for his colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Given the level of scientific knowledge and our own experience in places like Moorepark, the whole of Teagasc, UCC, UCD and across the country - we have a wealth of knowledge - how would we approach the GM debate? We should not shirk it any longer.
The students in Sligo IT won the Microsoft Imagine Cup, which is probably the biggest cup for students. They won it twice in Ireland and in 2011 they won the worldwide Imagine Cup. This is a small academy compared to the huge organisations with which they are competing. We have a wealth of talent but we must continue to encourage those students who come forward.
I am reminded of the Collison brothers of whom I am sure the Minister is well aware. Patrick Collison was 19 when they sold their first Internet company and made €1 million. Patrick was a winner in the young scientist award and obviously was a man with huge natural talent yet the brothers are now working in the United States. One of the Forfás recommendations is that we would encourage not just international expertise to Ireland but ex-pats to come back to Ireland. It is to people like Patrick and his brother John that we would be looking with a view to forming relationships. I am aware they have a business here but I understand they are based in the US. Originally they looked a little young and they went to the US without being able to get investment here. We do not want to see those opportunities fall through the cracks on another occasion. In regard to an issue I brought to his attention the Minister has helped to try to avoid that, and it is something we must try to avoid.
In terms of opportunities for the future, is there a way the top companies in Ireland listed by Senator Clune can open their doors to students and young people in this Science Week? Would they be able to offer time and space once a year for children and young people to see what it is like to work in one of those companies?
I note that President Higgins presented the gold Gaisce awards today. Could Science Week and all the great work being done by Science Foundation Ireland and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation be developed in collaboration with Gaisce?
In regard to work experience, is there a way in which companies could agree to offer 1,000 work placements every year to transition year students on a formal as opposed to an ad hoc basis? AbbVie in Sligo has been particularly good at supporting young people in our community and while I am sure other companies do the same, perhaps a formalised approach would strengthen the link between young people and the working environment and help in the transition from the excitement of Science Week to the reality of finding a job.
Senator Feargal Quinn touched on the subject of sponsoring after school clubs. Perhaps companies involved in information technology, science and research might consider this suggestion in some shape or form. I am aware that the Minister of State is working very hard on Horizon 2020 and I urge him to keep up the good work.
I welcome the opportunity to take part in this discussion. It is not a debate because most people are of one mind on the importance of science and the welcome role Science Week plays in connecting young people to the area of science. A wide range of events are taking place, with nearly 1,000 events listed on the website. Schools and libraries in County Meath are hosting a considerable number of events.
Last week a 16 year old transition year student was in my office to gain work experience. She raised an issue that I thought had gone away some time ago, namely, the attitude towards the teaching of physics and chemistry in girls' schools. They are seen as boys' subjects, whereas biology is seen as a girl's subject. I had believed those days were gone. My recollection of chemistry and physics is that they were difficult subjects. I often recommended people not to pursue them if they were simply looking for leaving certificate points because there were easier options. However, they are also important subjects. I would like to see an examination carried out of where physics and chemistry are taught and whether statistical evidence is available to suggest they are less likely to be taught in girls' schools. The person with whom I spoke thought it was disgraceful that physics, in particular, was not always made available in schools. In some schools a choice is offered in the junior cycle between arts and music, on the one hand, and science subjects, on the other. If one takes that option at an early stage, one's educational options are being closed to further development. Students' intellects and interests develop rapidly during their years in secondary school. This is an issue the Department of Education and Skills could easily investigate. If a significant number of girls are not being offered physics and chemistry because of an outdated culture in their schools, it would be a shame and a disgrace. Many of these girls are equally as good as, if not better than, their male counterparts. The aforementioned person was involved in CoderDojo outside her school and is fascinated by computing and physics. She wants to work in that area, but it may not be possible for her to do so in the context of the subjects she can take in school. We have a challenge to ensure these sexists attitudes do not prevail because they will only hold the country back. I would be concerned if my daughter was restricted to a choice between artistic and science subjects from an early age.
I wish those involved in national Science Week well and hope those who will participate in events will benefit from them.
The are many positive aspects to participation, with great enjoyment and learning to be had in making discoveries, doing experiments and making some mistakes. Participation could also be of benefit to students in securing employment in the future, which is a practical consideration as things stand in this country. Above all, however, science is about discovery, about finding out how things work at all levels of human existence and experience. I support and encourage the Minister of State in his efforts in this area.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, to the House. I attended a conference this morning in the Rotunda Hospital at which he delivered a very good and detailed contribution. The area of medical research is very relevant to our discussion today. This country can have an important part to play in progressing developments in this area and devising new solutions to medical problems.
Senator Clune referred to funding for people involved in research. There was discussion at the conference this morning about the lack of a career path for researchers and the pay scales involved. Perhaps it is time to consider offering tax reliefs, comparable with the reliefs offered to artists, to people who are directly involved in and whose only source of income comes from research and development, particularly medical research. There might be an upper income limit below which people would be exempt from paying tax. The same type of scheme has worked very well in the case of artists, particularly people involved in the music industry. The advantage of such reliefs is that as well as offering a benefit to the recipient, there is a benefit for society at large whether in terms of artistic output or medical breakthroughs. The introduction of a tax relief scheme in the area of research and development also offers the potential to generate a large number of jobs.
I do not want to take from the importance and benefits of Science Week, but it is important to highlight another issue that was raised at the conference this morning, namely, that funding for research and development is provided by different organisations without any overall strategic co-ordination. It is an issue we must address. People and organisations, including pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and universities, should be working together to achieve the maximum impact in this area and an overall benefit for the country.
Another issue raised at the conference related to the Health Research Board, the shift away from biomedical research and the fact that Science Foundation Ireland is not picking up all the slack. In other words, research is falling between two stools. The question was raised this morning as to whether we have the necessary infrastructure in place in certain areas to ensure we get the maximum benefit out of Horizon 2020. The target is to get in more than €1 billion over a period of time and it is important that we prioritise that. I take the opportunity to thank the Minister of State for the work he has done to date in this area. He has been very proactive in putting the co-ordination process in place, but a great deal of work remains to be done. We are very fortunate in Cork to have nine of the ten top pharmaceutical companies based within a 50 mile radius of the city. We need to start taking better advantage of that by enhancing co-ordination between, for example, universities and hospitals.
The lack of co-ordination of clinical research was also raised. We must do more in that area. I was at the conference because of an interest in rare diseases. Science has moved on and medical research has moved on and we are now identifying rare conditions. The country is so small that the number of directly people affected is quite small, with only four or six families being affected by a given disease. In United States, a rare condition might affect 200 or 300 people. It is not possible for us to provide the backup support to a person with the condition. We need to co-ordinate between member states in the European Union to share information. That also ties into the directive with regard to cross-border health care and the sharing of information between member states and medical organisations across the 28 member states. The directive was passed in February 2011 but the target is now to have it in place by February or March 2014. This will be welcome in terms of co-ordinating the health services to provide solutions to particular problems. We need to do more work on getting assistance from the UK, where the population is 55 million or 60 million and where more people are affected by rare conditions than the number affected here. There is much to be learned with regard to research and development and we need to do it in a far more co-ordinated way than was the case in the past. The Minister of State has done much work in the area and hopefully he can get the necessary support to continue to develop and grow the area. I thank him for his contribution to date.
I am delighted we have the opportunity to discuss science policy. It is not widely appreciated that the brief of the Minister of State is the most important in the Government. It is unlikely that the future of our species will be determined by real estate prices or paying bondholders but there is no doubt that this century we could cease to exist if we do not get the right answers to a number of critical science questions about food, water and energy. It is a measure of the importance that the broader scientific laity are attracting to science that there is increasing recognition of science as critically important. Why is it important? We need more people to do science in school and for longer. Is it because we need more people to be full-time scientists? No, although we do need more people to be full-time scientists, it is not the principal reason. We need everyone to know more about science because it is the process by which we interrogate the laws of nature, learn from them and increase the body of knowledge we have so that we can adapt the laws to our benefit.
To an extent, we are all scientists. Every child that has poked a finger at a hot object and recoiled has made a scientific observation. That wisdom continues throughout life and we continue to learn. We tend to compartmentalised "science" as a thing done by people who look like Christopher Lloyd in "Back to the Future", with frizzy hair and long white coats, and that it is not relevant to what the rest of us do. Clearly, that is misconception. Much of that has influenced the way we educate people to do science in school. With no disrespect to religion, it is extraordinary that religion is seen as a mandatory subject all the way to leaving certificate level in so many schools, whereas science becomes wholly optional. Whatever one may say about the reality or otherwise of the theories on which various religions are based, the reality of science is there and if we do not know about it is greatly to our detriment.
During Science Week, the Minister of State and his colleagues in education must be thinking about a core policy of making some form of science education an integral, non-optional part of the curriculum until the day students leave school.
There are two tricks involved, one of which is to make it interesting because our history is replete with examples of subjects we decided by virtue of social engineering to make compulsory which resulted in large numbers of people hating them. In truth, compulsory Irish was one of these subjects. Many people never liked learning Irish in school because of the element of compulsion involved. In a previous generation there was a necessity to have Irish when applying for public service jobs, there was the incredible focus on the teaching of grammar as opposed to trying to learn about the beauty of the language and its cultural context. This policy has not worked. The de Valera vision that in this century we would be an Irish-speaking nation and doing our normal business through Irish has not come to pass. We cannot allow the same to happen to science. It is critically important that we educate a generation of people who understand the laws of science because they are going to be asked to vote on things in respect of which science is relevant. Society will have to make decisions about things like genetically modified food, energy policy, nuclear energy policy, tobacco and alcohol regulation and other aspects to do with vaccination policy. Into the vacuum of ignorance of science step all kinds of bizarre theories which can have very negative social consequences beyond the narrow scientific confines in which they are found. Most people do not study religion until they are 18 years old because they plan to become priests, nuns or imams, but they study religion nonetheless, nor should people only be expected to study religion until they are 18 years if they intend to follow careers in science. Lawyers need to know about science, as do real estate brokers, architects, artists and poets. The study of science should be an integral part of everyone's education. To that end, I urge the Minister of State and the Minister for Education and Skills to come together to develop what I believe should be a core module of broad science for those who are not particularly interested in pursuing a career in science but who would like or would be encouraged to the point of compulsion to have an ongoing education in science, including the study of health science, health care, food science, nutrition and environmental studies. These are critically important aspects about which people need to know.
On a practical level, I was delighted to hear Senator Colm Burke say something I had been advocating for a while. We should consider the idea of introducing 0% corporation tax for science-based research and development enterprises, but it would have to be policed and bona fide. It could not be some kind of accounting exercise to enable people to hide manufacturing or investment expenses or pension funds in some kind of spurious research and development. It would need to be tangible, subject to the same kind of peer review as science grants and would need to generate jobs for research scientists. The spin-off benefits would be significant.
Senator Colm Burke mentioned the need for co-operative clinical research. I would like to think I was one of the people who had some role in developing such research in this country. In the sphere of cancer research I founded two cancer research organisations, one of which has true national clout, which has brought research-based treatments to patients throughout the country and brought in tens of millions of free drugs into the country. It has created hundreds of jobs in the industrial sector in support of the fact that companies that previously would have only had a drug representative visiting doctors' offices to encourage them to prescribe medication suddenly have research places because the Irish co-operative oncology research group is conducting such high quality research and the companies are now locating trials in Ireland. In recent years we have done something similar on the more pure lab and bench side of the cancer research model with Molecular Therapeutics for Cancer Ireland which we have recently rebranded as NCRCI, the National Cancer Research Centre of Ireland. These models can have not only scientific and social benefits but also economic and employment benefits.
I have two specific suggestions for the Minister of State. He should give serious consideration to making a major effort at curriculum development in order to develop a branch of scientific education which is interesting.
It may or may not be points-focused. It should occur not to help people to matriculate but to educate them in order that they could deal with the scientific decisions they would have to face in real life. We should examine critically corporate incentives for siting research and development in Ireland.
As a parting shot, we should be among the world leaders - perhaps we are in some areas - in the areas of food science, agri-science and marine science. We should be at the top of the tree in these matters, generating employment on a scale that is without parallel. We have already demonstrated that on a small slab of relatively fertile land we can feed numbers far beyond those achieved by larger agricultural societies and we must leverage that ability to increase knowledge in relevant sciences. I ask the Minister of State to, please, keep up the good work.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, for this debate. Science was never my strong subject at school. When I met my old science teacher lately, we reminisced about my participation in science, but my talents, limited as they are, lay elsewhere. They were geared more towards music when I was at school.
This morning, as I was gathering my thoughts for my contribution to the debate on a subject which was not my forté, I wondered what I could say about science. As I drove down the motorway from Dundalk to Dublin, I appreciated the simplistic motion of turning the key in the ignition and driving off. As I reached the halfway point between Dundalk and Drogheda I thought about a local man from County Louth who had been forgotten by many but who was still very much a part of our lives and the enjoyment we experienced every day. He was the Reverend Professor Nicholas Callan from Darver, County Louth. My initial research indicated that he had invented the induction coil in 1836. As I stated, I was never a very good science student, but we know the induction coil is still in use today, powering, for example, car ignition systems. When a car breaks down, we all learn what an induction coil does. It is also used in televisions and other electronic devices. What Reverend Professor Nicholas Callan achieved so many years ago was dangerous and many people thought it was impossible. By 1837, one year after inventing the induction coil, he was generating an estimated 60,000 volts of electricity in his laboratory in St. Patrick's College in Maynooth. I spoke to somebody earlier who told me a hall was dedicated to him - Callan Hall - because of his work. His invention revolutionised the way in which we travelled. Before 1926 all cars used a hand-crank to start and required physical labour, but after that date every Ford Model T came equipped with starting batteries. Reverend Professor Nicholas Callan's induction coil made it possible to start a car with the power of a small battery. This improvement to the Ford Model T gave it further mass appeal. Like most geniuses, Reverend Professor Nicholas Callan was not appreciated for or credited with his invention until almost 70 years after his death. I was amazed that I had not known about this man before I carried out research for this debate. We may all take for granted the simplicity of turning a key in the ignition to start a car. We have so many famous Irish people that can be credited with wonderful inventions such as this.
I commend initiatives such as Science Week, as they are so important in generating curiosity among students. For example, when I taught I took students to W5 in Belfast. There have been conferences held as part of Science Week which have proved really beneficial in introducing young people to the simple pleasures and learning experiences involved in science.
I know of many great events taking place in my own county, which include moonlit archaeological and geological walks and photo competitions. I am aware of an especially interesting event that will take place this Thursday, hosted by the Mourne Cooley Gullion Geotourism project, on Carlingford and its castle in the middle ages. I am delighted that a past pupil alerted me to it and I hope to attend the event.
Events and weeks such as this bring science to the fore and hopefully spark an interest or get young people to think of science in a different way. It is like the week when we have the Young Scientist exhibition. It is something for which I never managed to qualify but attended on many occasions. In recent years it has become one of the high points in the school calendar. Students attend the exhibition and appreciate the work of their peers. Some of the projects in recent years have been overwhelming in terms of the thought processes behind them. Ireland has a strong reputation for science, as evidenced by Nicholas Callan, but also by the fact that it has won the top prize at the European Union contest for young scientists 16 times, most recently with the win by the three young ladies from the Minister of State’s county of Cork.
Day in and day out we discuss the impact of the downturn in the economy on the jobs market and the people who visit our offices every day. Science can play a key role in helping to fix the jobs crisis. The unemployment rate among science professionals comes in at less than 3% compared with a higher national average. The sector is crying out for young scientists from this country. Studying science at third level does not only have to be about laboratory research, it could mean a career in computer gaming, energy, sports, agriculture or any number of other professions. Science is versatile and can bring one to any number of places. Let us take the example of Nicholas Callan from Louth – this is the last time I will mention him – the fifth child born into a family of seven in 1799 who entered Maynooth college at the age of 17, studied in Rome, became the chair of the physics department in Maynooth and lived to the age of 65 and whose memory, through the invention of the induction coil, is still remembered today. It just proves that much is possible through science.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, who is present for the debate on this intriguing topic. The word “science” comes from the Latin, scientia, which means knowledge. Nobody could speak in the House against knowledge but sometimes the gap between the hyperbole in terms of what we set out to do and the reality does let us down.
On an Adjournment motion, Senator Clune pointed out mistakes in the leaving certificate and junior certificate maths papers in spite of the fact that maths is a national priority. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, found more because he is an architect. By the end of the session we had found three times as many mistakes in the paper than the number that had been subject to official apology by the State Examinations Commission, which then issued some daft statement to the effect that it was understaffed and that was the reason for the mistakes. Sometimes, we have to take issues seriously. There were faults which this House found. It is evident from the record that the Minister was happy to acknowledge that the Senators found the faults in the leaving certificate examination papers this year. I hope the situation will be remedied.
It seems to me that bonus points for maths rewards people who have a maths teacher in the school but the problem, as the Royal Irish Academy has pointed out, is that many maths teachers in Irish schools have no qualification in maths. The Minister for Education and Skills came to the House to speak about changing teacher training, which became a power struggle between institutions as to who had what teacher training. He was as embarrassed by the situation as anyone else. We did not opt for the model which I believe would have been preferable, namely, that science teachers would be trained in science departments with perhaps a top-up from the higher diploma in education course. It is wrong to just give people the higher diploma in education, which is a widely decried qualification, and say that young people have to face the task of trying to learn science from somebody who is about one page ahead of them in the book.
The abolition of rural science and nature study as a subject in primary schools was a serious mistake.
May I clarify something? I did not quite understand what the Senator was referring to when he spoke about some people being one page ahead of others.
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.
The debate on this very important subject has been most enlightening. I agree with Senator Sean D. Barrett that for a smart country and smart people, we were quite dumb in 2008. There are, undoubtedly, individuals within the economy and our society who are extremely smart. Unfortunately, many of these extremely smart people are going abroad to find their feet. There must be an effort to move science to centre stage. There should be no sense in which it is presented as elitist, particularly in the language used.
Like Senator Mary Moran, I was a poor science student. My teachers' main concern was that I might mix the wrong chemicals and blow up the science laboratory. Science must become part of the dialogue in this country - in fact, it must be at the centre of that dialogue. It is by fostering creativity that we will create indigenous and sustainable jobs and become a world leader. Science gives us the opportunity to do that and we do not require access to billions of euro. We do not even need millions of euro. All we need are people with brains who are prepared to dedicate their expertise in the area of science.
The Young Scientist competition, sponsored by BT, has seen the emergence of several immensely talented young people. Some of them have gone on to win the international competition, which is a testament to what is being done in this country at second level. Investment in science is an investment in the future. One might not see a benefit instantaneously, but there is a clear benefit in the long term, not least in so far as it fosters confidence among investors internationally. Investors seeking bases in which to invest or set up business will see us as a nation investing in science and establishing a creativity culture within science. We have demonstrated that we are capable of following international best practice and creating world class products. We need only look at the dairy and farming sector to see the evidence of this. I regularly speak to agricultural students in UCD and other colleges whose ideas and vision for the country are mind-blowing. That is the type of confidence in which we need to invest. Above all, we need to hold onto these young people.
This has been one of the better debates in this House and certainly proves the usefulness of Seanad Éireann. We are fortunate to have Members like Senator Sean D. Barrett who is one of Europe's best transport economists and can also speak with confidence about science. I hope this debate will be part of an ongoing discourse with the Minister of State that will allow us to address the challenges that present in this area.
I will endeavour to respond in the best way I can to the points raised. I genuinely acknowledge the contributions of my fellow Members of the Oireachtas. Hopefully I will be able to respond, and if I am not, Members should not hesitate to follow up with me.
Senator Mary White referred to a dual education system, and I wholeheartedly agree with the point she made. The example of the University of Limerick is the best national example of industry engagement by undergraduates where accreditation is given to the student for participation in industry, enterprise or on a community basis. That model should be replicated. Other universities or institutes of technology should take it as an example. It is for universities to do so, but I am in favour of the model.
I will contact Senator Deirdre Clune about a review of the ICT action plan after two years. I want to give an accurate picture of it. The same applies to the PhD candidate to whom Senator Clune referred. A PhD candidate is a student, technically speaking, and I am happy to liaise with the Senator on that issue.
I agree with Senator Feargal Quinn on the potential of the agricultural and food sector. It is one of the 14 sectors outlined earlier. We are looking at food, food innovation and, particularly, food for health. Teagasc and SFI have signed a memorandum of understanding to try to leverage new opportunities within the sector, something the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, and I signed off on some time ago. It presents an opportunity in terms of mapping areas opportunity onto the food sector and the agricultural sector. This is particularly true in respect of ICT and dairy expansion, where the employment of new ICT technology will be necessary for success. That is where we see a natural synergy between SFI and Teagasc.
With regard to GMOs, research on genetically modified organisms is already being carried out by Teagasc. A potato trial is under way within Teagasc. At this juncture, if we look at the trends in terms of global population growth, we must be pragmatic about the approach we take. I am expressing a personal opinion. Sometimes the issue of GMO gets tangled up with the biotechnology companies and the control of seed and intellectual property. We must have a rational and reasonable debate on the issue in a proper forum, devoid of some of the emotion that exists around the topic. I would welcome a rational, coherent and objective debate. There is potential for mapping ICT onto agriculture and developing higher-end food products, particularly in the area of probiotics and functional foods. The taxpayer, through SFI, has funded an alimentary pharma-biotic centre in Cork through Professor Fergus Shanahan, who was referred to by Senator O'Keeffe. Last week, Professor Shanahan was nominated as researcher of the year. That is the kind of excellence in research that we are carrying out in the area of food, and it will map onto dairy expansion and the potential of the agricultural economy. We recognise its importance.
The feedback on Science Week will be about capturing what the broadcaster and researcher Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin calls the zeitgeist. She called this a zeitgeist space where learning takes place, through events such as Science Week, for parents and teachers as well as for the children and students involved. It is about implanting new ideas in teachers to apply some of the learning from individual events in the classroom. In terms of feedback, the expectation is that teachers will take something from the events and implant that learning in the teaching experience within the classroom. There is no reason, in the current system, they cannot do so.
The topic of religion in schools concerns management and patronage structures. It is arguably for a board of management to determine the particular ethos of the school. That is why, in certain instances, religion becomes an important topic, depending on the ethos in a school. I agree that we need more primary school teachers engaging with science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects at primary school. We must help teachers. All too often, it is easy to be critical of teachers and say that they spend too much time teaching English or art and not enough time on science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. We must create a supportive framework for teachers and give them the tools to do so.
Senator Thomas Byrne referred to physical sciences and hard sciences. Looking at the results in physics and chemistry, one can see there is no difference between the genders at national level. With regard to the school in question, I do not know the facts of the situation, but I imagine it may be a geographical issue or a localised issue. There are opportunities for people to be taught physics or chemistry no matter where they are in the country. If there are exceptions, I would like to hear about it. It may be a local variation. If we examine the breakdown of physics and chemistry in the leaving certificate, we find that, broadly speaking, there is no gender imbalance. I am happy to talk to the Senator about that point.
I was delighted to meet Senator Colm Burke at the medical research charities group conference this morning. We are a small country and we are still borrowing more than €1 billion per month. It is not possible for a small country in these economically constrained times to try to be all things to all people in terms of our research funding. It is appropriate to smartly specialise in an area in which we can get a societal and economic return. People may have a rational critique of the research prioritisation exercise, but I do not believe they cannot be funded through other sources if they feel they are left outside of the process. There are sources of funding other than research prioritisation.
In the health area, in drug synthesis and drug formulation, Ireland is investing heavily through the solid state pharmaceutical centre, SSPC, cluster at the University of Limerick, which brings in the pharmaceutical companies so vital to our industrial landscape. We are partnering with them through SFI to examine the concept of manufacturing from molecules to medicine, as the saying goes. We must be smart about how we specialise. Drug discovery is an area of importance.
We recognise that. If we are talking about an emphasis on these, we will be moving towards a manufacturing and processing synthesis crystallisation space. We are absolutely right to prioritise in that area.
There were comments about 0% corporation tax. Considering the foreign direct investment wins we have had in 2012, approximately 45% were predicated on research and development. I have an open mind on the corporate tax rate and, as a Minister of State, that type of designation is probably beyond my pay grade. We should debate the matter and I acknowledge the points made by Senator Barrett on how the research and development tax credit is utilised. The last budget set down clear markers on the research and development tax credit designation and there is no ambiguity about that.
Senator Crown mentioned religion and I spoke about governance in response to that. Science is a core subject, which I agree with, and the metrics would probably indicate that science is taught at post-primary level in approximately 85% to 90% of schools. I could stand to be corrected on the exact percentage, and although it is an option, science is still taken by the vast majority of students right up to leaving certificate level. I agree with the Senator that this is about people having a basic conceptual understanding of science because of its translational impact across a number of sectors, including solicitors and the other professions mentioned. I agree with the Senator's comments about a core module.
I do not see how the junior cycle could not provide for that kind of model, especially in short courses, and junior cycle students on short courses should be engaged in that kind of scientific inquiry. The idea might be grown from the conceptual perspective of "putting the finger on the hot plate", as people should have such a conceptual understanding of scientific endeavour. There would be an important outcome for people downstream in terms of how they grow, effectively, as people.
With regard to the food space, the Alimentary Pharmobiotic Centre in Cork is working with Teagasc, and it is one of the foremost probiotic research entities in the world. It carries out research on functional foods, gut health and mapping the gut "genome". Ireland is at the forefront of that scientific endeavour, and downstream permutations will include medicinal potential for food as a delivery mechanism. That is long-term thinking, with people like Professor Fergus Shanahan leading that kind of research. I will never forget the name Nicholas Callan as long as I live. The next time I step on the locomotive to Mallow or into the car, I will be thinking of Reverend Professor Nicholas Callan. I take that as a learning point and acknowledge the comments of Senator Moran in that respect.
Senator Barrett always provokes challenging thoughts and I like coming to the Seanad because it facilitates such debate. Senator Barrett drew on the "one page ahead" analogy with regard to Project Maths and the State is expending considerable resources on bringing teachers of mathematics - out of field maths teachers - through a professional diploma which is being delivered by the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with other entities like the National University of Ireland, Galway. We have invested heavily in bringing in those teachers and the taxpayer is funding this professional diploma in order to upskill the teachers and enable them to teach mathematics at post-primary level. I would be very surprised if the vast majority of teachers graduating from that course would not leap-frog some of the existing pure mathematics teachers in the system. That may sound controversial but it is what the evidence indicates, although we have not yet had a full analysis of how the course panned out.
In fairness to teachers in the post-primary sector, they have had to embrace serious challenges in dealing with Project Maths and some of the teachers have been resistant to it. I am confident that given the right levels of continuing professional development and supports for those teachers, as well as introducing the out of field mathematics teachers into the equation, some of the issues with the State Examinations Commission will be solved. Everybody acknowledges the turmoil created but we must still acknowledge that Project Maths is still in its early days, so there is work to be done.
There are still pockets of resistance by some teachers involved with Project Maths and we are trying to work with them as best we can in order to get through the existing issues, recognising the challenges they face. A teacher has to go from "chalk and talk" based on a model of past papers to a process of collaborative problem solving with students, and some teachers may have been teaching for 20 or 25 years. We must acknowledge that such a change can be difficult for teachers. I am hopeful that we can get through those challenges and I acknowledge the points.
I do not agree with the Senator's comments about a culture of amateurism. He was speaking specifically about pyrite issues and so forth. I will stand up for the officials with whom I interface in the public service on a daily basis. One can consider the negotiations around Horizon 2020, and although they have political leadership, the teams on the working groups are all public officials. These are civil servants who did an excellent job in negotiating these programmes on behalf of Ireland. I know the Senator is not painting with a broad brush with regard to public administration but sometimes we must acknowledge that there are excellent people within our public administration who have a very strong sense of policy outcomes and delivering based on Government objectives, etc. I do not know if I missed an issue when the Senator mentioned the culture of amateurism, and I stand to be corrected if I have missed a point.
Some 45% of our foreign direct investment wins last year were predicated on research and development. The challenge for us is to start examining the primary school system now to ensure we can have a throughput. There are intermediate measures at post-primary level, and I argue there is a certain responsibility on higher education institutions to start remodelling how they offer particular courses. Perhaps there is an onus on the institutions to consider the possibilities of more industrial engagement by undergraduates. If that is done there will be a positive consequence on the numbers of people staying here rather than emigrating, and particularly with people under 24 who are freshly graduated. At this stage, if those people had some sort of industrial experience or could interface with industry in some way at an undergraduate level, receiving accreditation for their efforts, many might take up opportunities at an earlier career stage.
I remain open to challenge on that point also at some stage.
When is it proposed to sit again?
Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.