Simon’s Bring Your School To Work Day

How big is that school bus…?

atest press release from Minister Simon Harris, issued on Tuesday, December 19th 2023…

Minister Simon Harris today welcomed students from his former secondary school St David’s in Greystones for a tour of the Dail and Seanad before Christmas recess.

Speaking after the visit, Minister Harris said: “I am truly delighted to have welcomed once again my former secondary school and some of their students to the Oireachtas today.

“It’s a huge privilege as a public representative of Wicklow to be able to welcome schools and students to Leinster House every week where they get to learn about the history of the House and get to see the how both the Dail and Seanad work.

“Today is particularly special as I was able to welcome two groups of students from my own former secondary school St David’s in Greystones which the Taoiseach and I recently visited.

“I think it’s very important for young children to witness how the houses of parliament work in their country and what we are doing in these Houses and what I am doing as Minister for Further and Higher Education.

“I got to speak to some students about their options for third level education when they finish in secondary and tell them about the new joint tertiary degrees I have set up, which are degrees outside the CAO points race, this means no matter how many points you get in the Leaving Cert you can still get access to degrees like Nursing, Business, Computing and so much more.

“On the tour they get to learn about democracy and the State, how old you have to be to vote, how people are elected to the Dail and Seanad, how Government works, how Oireachtas Committees function, what role the Constitution of Ireland plays and also how the upcoming European and Local elections influence the country’s politics.

“Politics can often seem far out of reach for young people, but these tours bring them closer to active participation in politics and most importantly shows how accessible politics is in Ireland.

“Every week, I welcome 2 or 3 schools to visit Leinster House and offer each student a certificate to mark their visit.

Minister Harris concluded “The Houses of the Oireachtas will be back open in the second week of January and I hope to welcome many more students and schools through the New Year.

“If anybody would like to enquire about doing a tour of the Houses they can email me here.”