Fine Gael Innovation & Research Spokesperson Deirdre Clune TD has said the participants in this year’s BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition are proof that Ireland has a positive future.

Visiting the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in the RDS and meeting students taking part will give people a very positive view of our future. These students, their teachers and parents, have given their time and effort to take part in one of the greatest annual educational events in Ireland.

They prove that young people have the talent and the skills to make sure that Ireland can compete at the cutting edge of this sector, if given the opportunity.

The real danger we face is that the generation of young people who have participated in the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition over the last five or ten years may be lost to emigration. We cannot rebuild this country if this talented generation is lost to Ireland.

Fine Gael will tackle the blight of emigration with our Hope for a Lost Generation policy which will directly target youth unemployment with workshare schemes like those in Germany and the US, a National Internship Programme, and by increasing the number of places available on further education and retraining programmes.