Mr. David Duffy:

There are three areas that I will address briefly which are important. The Chairman made reference to Irish language schools and how textbooks often come late in the day. I need to make it clear I am not criticising anyone who produces them, but that is a reality.

There is a problem in relation to all schools, both English and Irish language, in terms of support materials for teachers for new courses and continuing professional development for new courses. It is important this material comes out at the earliest possible stage so that people are ready when the course begins in the August-September of the following year and teachers feel confident in the new programme. That is clearly a very serious issue in the Irish language schools, but I argue it is sometimes an issue in the English language schools and we need to cater for both.

In On the availability of subjects, there are challenges there. There are very serious resourcing issues there. There are almost 40 leaving certificate examination subjects, which do not include subjects where there is not an examination component, for example, SPHE, personal development, RSE, and that type of area. I doubt that there is a single school in the country, be it Irish or English language, that can provide all 37 or 38 subjects. The resources are simply not there to do it. Resourcing is a very serious issue, not just for students moving schools but also across the entire spectrum.

On the issue of resources, it would be remiss of me not to mention that when it comes to percentage of GDP spent on second level education, Ireland is either the last or the second last in the entire OECD. If education is, as I believe it is, genuinely an investment in society as well as the economy, we need to invest in it. Saying it is satisfactory or acceptable in some way to Irish society and the Irish taxpayer that we should invest the lowest, or second lowest, in the entire OECD in our education system is quite shameful.

The third area I will come back to is that of equal opportunity.

It is vitally important we retain foundation level in order that all students can access the leaving certificate Irish programme. It is vital the priority attached to the oral component of the leaving and junior certificates is genuinely valued through the issue of percentage as part of the leaving certificate.

On bonus points, I accept there are very strong views on this. I accept people are debating how the T1 and T2 interface will work. My own view is it creates a distortion in the system, but I accept there are views on the other side.