Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and her officials. I welcome what I believe the Minister said, that she would agree with working towards the New Zealand model and work with the committee to achieve it. Does the Minister hope to get close to some of the elements of the model in the context of delivering the 2016 Estimates? I hope so, and it would be a positive response to us. The Minister gave examples of areas in which the model might not work for the Department. One example was the fact that important educational outcomes cannot be attributed to one particular activity or target. From our understanding, it would not necessarily have to be measured on one target. In the example the Minister gave, if we are talking about leaving certificate retention rates, we would be examining where they are now, where we want them to be next year or the year after, and there would be a series of actions to achieve it. Although the overall objective would be to achieve improvement in this area, a range of activities would be measured. The goals would have to be specific and the outcomes measured. This is what we want. I welcome the Minister's up-front response and willingness to work with the committee to achieve the New Zealand model.