Mr. Kevin McCarthy:

Many issues and questions were raised and I do not know if I can deal with all of them, but I will do my best to deal with the few that stuck in my mind.

Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked a question about the senior cycle options. I agree with him. If history is put up against the only foreign language on offer which is needed for matriculation purposes, it is not good. Every history inspector in Ireland would say this. We encourage offering an open choice to students and as much guidance and flexibility as possible, even though the latter may be considered a dirty word in some contexts at times. It is not good for history to form part of a tied option against the only foreign language on offer. I am also concerned when I see it up against some of the other subjects on offer. It may end up being the case that students with more third level ambition will move in a certain direction, depending on the subject. We strongly advocate offering an open choice to students and not linking history particularly with a subject that forms a requirement for third level.

The second point that struck me was the reference to history which Ms Crowley has answered better than I can. There is a sense that history is too difficult at senior cycle level and that it is too hard a subject in which to get high points, but the statistics do not bear this out. If one compares the results of the performance of students in leaving certificate history with that in other subjects - I will not mention a subject as I do not want to be shot down by others - the percentage of A1s, A2s and even B1s stands in comparison with that for any other subject. That is a tribute to the students, the teachers and the leaving certificate syllabus to a certain extent.

Regarding the issue of the statements, as a historian, I prefer to use concrete words such as "happened in the past" rather than "what might happen", but we have to be a little circumspect in that the development of a history specification will not start for a while. I cannot say what exactly will happen. If we look at the framework and the statements of learning and what links with what, the heading is subjects, short courses and other learning experiences that could contribute. That is the Department's wording.