Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Let us consider the senior cycle, for example. Subjects such as applied mathematics and classics are on the curriculum, but how many children get the opportunity to study them in school in practice? Very few. By and large, they are only taught in schools with significant external resources, with some exceptions. I call on the Minister of State to engage with this question directly. If the Minister's reforms proceed, does the Minister of State believe that ten years from now there will be more or fewer students in the junior cycle taking history? As the Minister of State has said, the overwhelming majority of students do history at the moment, so why tamper with that?

History is unique and critical. It goes to the core of who we are and what we are. Every child has a right to know about the history of this island, given what we have been through in recent years and during several tumultuous decades. People have all sorts of analyses, opinions and interpretations of that. The study of history allows people to think critically.

The Minister of State has not explained why we should not continue with history as a compulsory subject. What will happen - I guarantee it - is that over time fewer schools will offer history and fewer students will have the option to study it. The schools with the greatest resources offer the greatest subject choice. That is a fact. However, a knowledge of history is a crucial element of democracy. This is why I am calling on the Minister of State to reconsider this proposal.

History is different from other subjects referred to by the Minister of State. English, Irish and mathematics are compulsory for good reason. The Minister of State would not suggest that they should be optional subjects. Why not retain history? What is the problem with it? I imagine the history curriculum requires reform over time, as does the curriculum of all subjects, but I hear no great clamour for reform like what we have heard for the Irish curriculum. This is a crucial issue and the legacy of the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Quinn, in the Department of Education and Science will be judged by decisions such as this. I genuinely believe that if the Minister proceeds by undermining history further it will damage our democracy and our education system. The vast majority of citizens I speak to - I imagine it is the same for the Minister of State - want their children to have a knowledge of history and want it to be taught in school. Otherwise, it will become elitist.

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