Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I fully support what the Deputy is suggesting, in that we provide students with life skills. These are skills that we all need at certain stages, whether moving into our own home, setting up a new business or exploring different opportunities. Transition year, in a way unlike the rest of the curriculum, is a real opportunity to be able to explore those different avenues.

There is a set of guidelines but it is still open to every school to choose whether or not they could apply those certain type of modules that the Deputy has mentioned. Until we have a full review and see exactly how schools are now applying the new structure and system, we will not be able to see exactly how many are partaking in some of those areas.

I will ask my Department to look at how we can review the changes that are taking place and get a better understanding of what type of modules the 60,000 students are taking up, how effective they are and whether there is more that we can do to encourage these type of modules in the transition year programme.

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