Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 18 and 43 together.

I am aware of and have noted the findings of the Irish Independent-Millward Brown opinion poll which was published last week.

Last year, officials from the Department went to 12 locations around the country and met with parents to explain the implications of the implementation of the framework for the junior cycle. Parents had concerns - I am a parent and I speak to other parents - but when the new approaches were explained they understood the need for these new approaches and the vast majority of parents welcomed them.

In the past few weeks my officials met with representatives of both the national parents' councils – primary and post-primary - to discuss the needs of parents. It has been agreed that both national parent councils for primary and post-primary will, in partnership with the NCCA, organise a series of meetings around the country between now and the school summer holidays to explain the new approach to learning and assessment. The arrangements for these are detailed in the accompanying table.

There is a significant information already available for parents on the NCCA website at www.juniorcycle.ie.

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