Election coverage and climate education
Senator Byrne responded to Senator Craughwell’s concerns about election coverage and said coverage decisions are inevitably disputed. He then returned to Senator Mullen’s climate point, stressing that climate discussion should be more discursive and evidence-based, with young people and students heard in that debate.
I can request that we have a debate.
Senator Craughwell knows that I agree with him on the defence issues he raised.
Whenever there are elections, there will always be questions as to who gets coverage and who does not, and inevitably some people will be aggrieved. There is the difficulty of trying to give coverage to everybody. We all have our own views as to who should or should not have coverage. Whether people agree with it or not, RTÉ set out the grounds on which it would invite people onto any of its broadcasts.
I agree with Senator Craughwell on competences of the European Parliament. It is important that we send Members to the European Parliament who understand how the EU operates and can have an impact there. Anybody who is elected will have to join one of the groups within the European Parliament and perhaps in debates in the future it would make more sense that each of the European parliamentary groupings and those who wish to join them should have one representative on each of the programmes so that then a decision can be made among all the candidates who aspire to join whatever group as to who the candidates for a particular programme might happen to be.
Senator Lombard raised the very valid issue of students with dyslexia sitting leaving cert and junior cert exams, an issue he has raised regularly in this House. He is correct that far more allowances are made in higher education for those who have dyslexia. I think it is something we can discuss and raise with the Minister for Education.
Senator Mullen raised the question of climate change. I attended the education committee this morning and there were some very insightful contributions from students, and representatives of the ISSU and USI. I am inclined to agree with the Senator that when it comes to education it should be constructive. I have never favoured a fire-and-brimstone approach to education whether it is in the teaching of climate sustainability or in the teaching of religion.
Comment on this
It needs to be much more discursive and evidence based. As the Senator said, there is very clear evidence that we are seeing climate change and a biodiversity challenge. It is important that all of us within society are equipped with the tools to be able to respond to that. It should be done very much on an evidence base. I am quite certain, and it is quite welcome, that the education committee is discussing this and that the voices of young people and students are heard within that debate.