In the 1990s Ireland was one of the world’s most competitive and fastest growing economies. Low taxation and EU membership contributed to our success, but these alone would not have been sufficient without the well-educated workforce which was the foundation of our successful economy.

Education must be a priority to ensure that Ireland again plays its part as one of the world’s leading economies. Can an education system first neglected and now seen as a soft target for cutbacks deliver?

In November the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs Report examined our national mathematical achievement and concluded that Ireland must improve if it is to successfully compete internationally.

Unfortunately, in Ireland at present we face a problem: not enough of our young people are taking science at leaving cert level and the already low number of those taking higher-level mathematics has actually fallen since 2000.

Today just 17% of students take higher-level maths at Leaving Cert, well short of the 25% expected when the current maths syllabus was introduced in 1992.

Concern about the ability of candidates to engage with routine mathematical problems was clear in the Chief Examiner’s Report on the 2005 Leaving Certificate, yet nothing has been done to address this.

One of the main recommendations of the Future Skills Needs Report was that students should be encouraged to take honours maths with bonus points as an inducement.

The time has now come to consider encouraging students to do higher level maths for the long-term good of the Irish economy. This recognises that maths is a subject that can demand a disproportionate amount of time from Leaving Cert students. As the Leaving Cert looms, many students will opt out of higher-level maths because of time pressure and instead focus on subjects that are seen as less onerous to get the same points.

Last week, I questioned the Minister for Education & Science on a proposal to introduce bonus points for higher level maths. His answer gave the insipid impression that he has absolutely no concept of how he or his Department can contribute to the future economic success of this country. Minister O’Keeffe expressed satisfaction with our current disappointing performance when compared to our international competitors. The Minister quoted with pride the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment 2006 which ranked Ireland 16th of 30 OECD countries.

He is clearly content to let things stay as they are, as he fumbles to focus on reform devoid of targets, projected outcomes and the urgency required to meet the challenge of today’s economic demands.

Fine Gael is not afraid to meet this challenge. In his policy statement ‘The Third Way’, our education spokesman Brian Hayes recognised the importance of shaping education policy so it rises to the challenge of a constantly changing economic environment by boosting the numbers of students studying subjects critical for the future of our economy such as science, engineering, business and finance.

While the Minister seems content with the current situation, we in Fine Gael say that this is not good enough. Other OECD countries recognised a long time ago that maths and science are essential and targeted those key areas in their education sectors. If we in Ireland want to compete with such countries we need to do likewise.

The existing disconnect between the Department of Education & Science and the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment is terrifying and is symptomatic of a Government both floundering and unfocused.

By contrast, Fine Gael’s Third Way policy recommends the sound strategy of creating a new Department of Technology Skills, Innovation & Higher Education. We recognise that to restore Ireland’s competitiveness requires joined-up thinking. We need to change our education outcomes, refocus students at second level and encourage them to develop the skills necessary to ensure our economic survival.

Recent media reports have left no possible doubt of the scale of the challenges ahead:
- David O’Meara, the Managing Director of Irish technology firm Havok, warned last year that Ireland is not producing enough maths or computer science graduates;
- Last June Dr Werner Kruckow, CEO of Siemens Ltd. Ireland, expressed concern about the shortage of engineering graduates which is preventing Ireland from becoming a world leader in the renewable energy sector.
- In February, Intel Shannon General Manager, Jonathan Walsh, warned that the State was not producing enough graduates and postgraduates in computer science and electronic engineering.
- Days later the American Chamber of Commerce expressed concern about the skills deficit in technology and related areas.
Such a snapshot of how industry leaders view Ireland is not a pretty picture.

Last month the National Competitiveness Council published its ‘Statement on Education and Training’ which zeroed in on the need for a greater uptake of higher-level maths. It reiterated that more maths, science, engineering and technology graduates are required for the Irish economy to thrive.

The quality of teaching of maths needs to be examined if we are to increase the number of students taking mathematically-related subjects at third level:
- In ‘Beginning to Teach’, the Inspectorate of the Department of Education revealed that 28% of new primary teachers felt poorly prepared to teach maths.
- The Royal Irish Academy estimates that just 20% of second level maths teachers studied it as a major subject beyond the first year of their primary degree.

Continuous professional development must be available for those who are educating our young.

The Irish economy must be rebuilt on the solid foundation of an education system that provides the next generation with the skills, knowledge and resources required to be part of an innovative Ireland.

Fine Gael alone has the foresight, courage and policy platform necessary to lay the foundation to build a new innovative Ireland.