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

When one is attempting to work with parents, the teaching profession and school communities to implement a very significant reform, it is exceptionally important to engage with all partners. When those partners raise valid concerns about the implementation of the reformed junior cycle, it is important to engage with them. That engagement has been ongoing and the national working group has been established. However, it is exceptionally difficult to operate in an environment where a significant number of the representative groups involved in the process have not made written submissions. We need those ideas as to how we can make this work to the best possible extent. Teachers are professionals and I have every confidence in their professionalism and integrity. Until they put their heads together and use their professional experience to suggest how exactly we can implement the reform, it is very difficult to move forward.

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