Ms Jude Cosgrave:

Two questions were asked. First, what is PISA 2012 doing in terms of computer-based assessment? Approximately 5,000 students took part in PISA. Each student took a two-hour paper-based test of mathematics, reading and science. The focus was on maths. A random subset of 15 or so students in each participating school, amounting to approximately 2,000 students or two fifths of the total number, went on to take a 40-minute computer-based test on a laptop provided by inspectors from the Department, who were the trained test administrators. Unfortunately, laptops needed to be provided last year, which still may be the case, because of significant variations in schools' infrastructure. The assessment required a certain specification. The students logged into the laptop and took part in a 40-minute assessment of mathematics, reading and problem solving. It could have been a mixture of the three domains or one or two of the domains.

Ireland took part in the computer-based element of PISA 2012 alongside 40 or so other countries. In 2009, we had comparative data on computer-based reading for 19 countries. In 2012, we have comparative data on reading, maths and problem solving for 40 plus countries. It is a potentially fruitful database to which we will have access.

Second, a question was asked about the trends in international mathematics and science study, TIMMS, and the programme in international reading literacy study, PIRLS, findings on ten year olds. We undertook multi-levelling modelling, which considered school and pupil characteristics simultaneously. Regardless of that, descriptive statistics show that approximately one in eight children has a smartphone. We do not know what children are doing with smartphones or how often they use them. After adjusting for parental employment status, parental education, home educational environment and student gender, however, students with smartphones did significantly worse by approximately 30 points - three tenths of a standard deviation - in the international test on reading, maths and science.