Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Core status means core status. It means ensuring the importance of history as students progress and transition from primary to secondary school. It also means looking at more creative and innovative ways of ensuring that the percentage take up of history after the junior certificate increases. At the moment, nine out of ten students study history at junior certificate level and while that is a good statistic, we are going to work to ensure it improves. I made this decision because there was a worry that the figure would decrease. The statistic for junior certificate to leaving certificate is two out of nine. There is an acceptance by all involved in this debate that we can do more to ensure that we move to that level.

Deputy O'Loughlin spoke about how she studied history for her junior certificate, or perhaps it was her intermediate certificate - I do not want to get into controversy about when she studied it - but she did not study it not for her leaving certificate. She went on to study it at third level and it opened a window for her.

I started learning Irish in 2014 and that gave me a window to the appreciation of history, a connection to culture, to heritage and to local places, as was raised here tonight, and to local history. Is é sin an comhthéacs ábhartha agus tábhachtach i gcás aon teanga nó aon ábhar. Any subject or any language has to have context. I am seeking, with this issue, to allow the NCCA to develop the new recognition that we are placing on this and to give it space to come up with a formula. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked when this will come in. I want it to come in September next year. Students who are in the junior cycle this year and who were in it last year will continue to complete their junior cycle. I note 97% of schools still offer history at junior certificate level. In the past couple of months, I have come across education and training board, ETB, schools that have seen natural progression into that sphere.

Ba mhaith liom m'aitheantas agus mo bhuíochas a ghabháil chuig achan duine fá choinne na moltaí agus na focail dearfacha - the positive words. I look forward to working with Deputies with regard to how this is designed in the future. I do not yet have the detail of that because the NCCA will be working on it. I will task the NCCA, in conjunction with my officials, to look at how we give history the special core status that it deserves, which means that it is on a par with English, Irish and mathematics.

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