As my colleague Deputy Nash has outlined, the Labour Party has provided significant costed budgetary proposals that would help people in the here and now. I do not think any of us in this House can justify raising taxes or increasing the price of petrol, diesel or home heating oil on ordinary working people any further in the midst of a years-long cost of living crisis. For families across Ireland, the cost of living, the cost of the very basics, is continuing to spiral. The costs of simply getting to work, getting…

Hear, hear.

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — research by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the University of Limerick from a survey of more than 720 post-primary schools showed that more than three in ten mandated the purchase of digital devices, including 17 per cent of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS), and that there is a risk of growing inequalities in the education system; — the Barnardos Back to School 2025 survey showed the average cost of digital devices for second level schools …

To finish the debate, I thank all Deputies across the House for their contributions. I am quite surprised by the contributions from some Deputies in Sinn Féin, which holds the finance Ministry in the North of Ireland, where there is currently a €700 million shortfall in the Department of Education.

Sinn Féin Deputies come in here and have a go at the Labour Party for something that happened 15 years ago, when I was in primary school and 11 years old.

It is quite interesting. I am not sure where their priorities lie in providing solutions.

The priorities lie in this motion. Instead they come in here and have a go off the Labour Party - no problem at all.

No, not at all.

Sinn Féin should get back to the priorities in this motion. The Minister in her speech referred on a number of occasions to encouraging schools: I encourage schools to consider how existing ICT supports and funding could be used to meet students' needs before any expectation was placed on parents ... Using the words "encourage schools" is extremely blasé in that it does not pay for digital devices. Saying to schools "I encourage you to look into not using digital devices" does not pay for those digital devices that…

I raise the issue of the lack of a plan for a new public sector pay deal and the lack of engagement on this matter. SIPTU, Fórsa, Unite and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, are now to ballot their members for industrial action, up to and including strike action. The public sector pay deal expired on 30 June and formal talks have yet to begin on a successor agreement. We are in the final week before Dáil Éireann goes into recess for the summer and trade unions and workers in the public sector are no…

There is a question in my name, but Deputy McGettigan's question is the next to be taken.

There is a positive aspect to this question. In the context of the way in which apprenticeship provision is funded through his Department, does the Minister expect the funding in question to be used to increase administrative and support staffing in line with the growth in apprenticeship numbers, for the recruitment of additional lecturing staff, technicians, and heads of trades, given that some institutions have recorded an increase in apprenticeship registration of up to 72%, without any corresponding increase in…

That is appreciated. Institutions have come to me directly to say that, although they understand that they are the ones that deploy staff to the busiest departments of their institutions, they feel that there is not enough funding coming to them to do so, given the increase in apprenticeships in all of their institutions. While I thank the Minister for giving me the opportunity to focus on one particular institution, there is a broader aspect to this question. We have seen a significant number of people taking up a…

I am sure that the Minister is aware of this but I want to put it on the record. The figure of 72% came to me through Munster Technological University, MTU, in Tralee, which the Minister is very familiar with and has visited. It is important to put that on the record, but it is also important to outline the broader aspect of it. We hear a great deal about the need to build more homes, deliver major infrastructural projects and strengthen Ireland's competitiveness. None of these ambitions can be achieved unless we i…

As I have mentioned already during these questions, given the growth in apprenticeships in Ireland, is the Department considering plans to introduce a CAO style type of application process to secure an apprenticeship? We all know there is a significant number of people who are waiting and trying to get an apprenticeship and trying to get a company to take them on for their apprenticeship. There is the CAO system and an application process for students who are going into further and higher education from sixth year.…

In relation to apprenticeship.ie , I ask the Department to promote this more strongly and more to career guidance teachers in our secondary schools who are probably aware of it but I am not necessarily sure how many parents or young people are aware of apprenticeship.ie. It is a simple fix. It probably would not need a lot of funding to promote that. The main focus of the question is on the fact they are no longer confined to the traditional trades anymore where they approach a local plumber or carpenter to take an…

I am willing to work with the Minister on this. Our objective should be to remove barriers and not create them. If Ireland is to meet its future skills need, we must make apprenticeships as visible, accessible and attractive as every other education pathway. I welcome the Minister's views. This CAO style application system for apprenticeships is not going to happen overnight but that is the ambition the Department should have. It is the ambition we should have in this House as policymakers and public representative…

Will the Minister give an update on his discussions with the European Research Council, ERC, in relation to the multi-annual funding framework for science? Ireland has built an international reputation for excellence in scientific research. Our universities and research institutions consistently compete successfully for European funding and Irish researchers have made significant contributions in areas ranging from health and pharmaceuticals to climate science, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

Yes.

I thank the Minister. The EU Presidency obviously gives us a greater opportunity to work with our European counterparts and, as the Minister is the honest broker chairing that, it is essential that we gain significant experience from the amount that we can invest in scientific research. It would probably be remiss of me not to mention University College Cork in my county, which does a significant amount of scientific research. I am very proud as a Cork man that we do such fantastic scientific research. One of the b…