Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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A child does not attend every day, do all the classes, and then suddenly not sit the exam and leave school. I take it that if a child or student gets through those first three years but does not make it, that the history has been of absenteeism, non-engagement and so on, and that it is a progression. Then, when they come to exams, they balk and decide to leave school. Everything else in the world is so much more technical now, and whether you go to become an electrician or whatever, the complexities of most jobs now require knowledge of literacy, mathematics and so on. That is a huge disadvantage. It would be useful for us to get any feel for this, and also a feel for the progression. Are we gaining ground or losing it? We are running short on time and I am due to ask a question in Questions on Policy or Legislation in the Dáil as well.