Mr. John Curtis:

It is improving. Two things are going on. If one looks at reporting on STEM, one can see that in the last number of years that it has improved and more girls are taking science subjects at junior and senior cycle level, so it has improved. There is a lot of talk about co-ed and single-sex schools, but an organic change is happening anyway. We have boys' schools, girls' schools and co-ed schools. Of the three, we have more co-ed schools than single-sex schools. A change is taking place that will also impact subject choices going forward. Schools have all sorts of contexts schools when looking at timetables and what the aptitudes of their pupils may be. It is changing, which we can see. This will impel us all to do a bit more. We all support the aspiration of STEM. I ask for patience in some respects. Ultimately, we will not be able to have a magic-wand solution whereby all schools will get to a certain place at a particular point. I was talking to the principal of a mid-sized school in Dublin yesterday. She told me she will be down 11.5 teachers next September, five of whom want to relocate to the country. We must be patient and deal with the realities. The aspirations are fantastic and we will work towards them, but at a local level, we must also be aware of context and what is going on. Change is occurring, and it is for the better.