Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his supplementary question. The reply I have given clearly indicates to the House that I have probably met the two teacher unions in the second level sector, which are just two of the three unions involved in the education system and two of a large number of other education stakeholders, on numerous occasions. On every occasion, the future of the junior cycle was a point of discussion.

The only thing I have changed is the method of assessment, based on the recommendations internally within my own Department. I did not wake up one morning and say we were going to do this on our own. It was done for a variety of reasons, which I am happy to discuss, although time does not permit me to do it here. However, I can assure the Deputy that the introduction of English next September for first year students will culminate in a new exam that will be worth 60% of the total marks they get for English in June of 2017, after the next general election, when the Deputy may very well be answering this question himself. It will be an exam in English that has been set by the State Examinations Commission and it will be assessed and moderated by the State Examinations Commission.

If we went any slower, there would be no tangible movement. We are moving as slowly as we reasonably can to address the legitimate and understandable fears of change which some, but not all, of the teachers have.

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