Ms Arlene Forster:

Absolutely. Can I finish my response, Senator, on the membership of the development groups? I think it is really important to bear in mind that each development group plays a very key role but they are not the only structure involved in the development of a specification.

Every specification, including the junior cycle SPHE specification, is also reviewed and discussed at length by a particular board within the NCCA. The boards have mixed gender and their composition is on our website, and it is the same for the council.

There is another important piece. The development group works with several sources of information, knowledge and expertise. Research is one and there is also input from consultation, and we have spoken several times this morning about consultation. The development groups also bring their experience and expertise to bear, and we work very closely with schools and early childhood settings, depending on whatever part of the curriculum we are working with. All of that contributes to the development of a specification. That is a very important piece in responding to the Senator’s question about the membership of a very particular structure.