Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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61. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on his talks with the teacher unions on the subject of junior cycle reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29394/14]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister provide an update on talks with the teacher unions on the subject of junior cycle reform?

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Minister, Deputy Quinn, set up a national working group for the junior cycle last January to proactively address identified challenges and opportunities as they arise over the phased implementation of the junior cycle. His officials have engaged with all education stakeholders, including the second level teachers' unions. There have been 13 meetings since January last. The Minister published a report on the work of those meetings and that group in May. The report indicated that some progress had been achieved and many constructive proposals have been made, particularly by the management and patron bodies, which will inform the discussions going forward, but the Minister continues to await similar written submissions from the teacher unions.

Nobody is denying that there is clearly further work to be done to achieve all necessary elements of the reform. The reform must be achieved. The Minister and his officials are very open to continuing discussion of issues relating to the implementation of the junior cycle, including aspects of disagreement raised by the teacher unions. The door has remained open and will remain open for such discussions.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Minister of State will agree and as the Minister very much acknowledges, junior cycle reform is crucial to reforming the curriculum and how it is delivered at second level.

That the Minister has been willing to progress it is positive. We would like to see this happen with everybody involved and on board. Unfortunately, because of the manner in which the Minister has handled the issue, the position, as he leaves office, is far from ideal. In May he committed to the establishment of a working group which was to be chaired by him. I gather from the Minister of State's response that the Minister has not chaired any meeting of the group because it has not yet met. I remind the Minister of State that we are less than two months from the start of the new academic year and implementation of the reform of the junior certificate. This is entirely unacceptable. Perhaps the Minister of State might clarify if it is the case that, as of now, there have been no meetings of the working group which was to be chaired by the Minister.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I am curious to know to which working group the Deputy is referring. There is a working group in place which consists of officials from the Department and representatives of the TUI, the ASTI, the school management bodies, the NAPD, Educate Together, parents, the NCCA and the SEC. This working group met on 17 January, 7 February, 7 March and 29 May. It was established to address the obstacles that had arisen in the implementation of this significant and long awaited reform and its work in that regard is ongoing. I am confident that with the ingenuity and innovation available to us from within the teaching profession and that if the two principal unions, the ASTI and the TUI, make their written submissions and take up the Minister's offer to meet him, which offer I am sure will remain open through his successor - I encourage the teacher unions to become involved in the process of negotiation - we can enter the new school year in September with a degree of certainty as to how this long awaited reform is to be implemented.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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In May the Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, announced that he was to invite the teacher unions to direct talks, acknowledging that the work of the working group during the course of the year had led to an industrial dispute between teachers and the Department about how the junior certificate reform programme was to be implemented. The Minister indicated that direct talks would commence following completion of this year's junior and leaving certificate examinations, but this has not yet happened. The only matter on which the Minister of State can report today is the progress of the working group, the work of which has been ongoing since the start of the year. Unfortunately, the current position is entirely unacceptable. There has been a real lack of political leadership and a willingness to pull everybody together to ensure everybody will be on board on this matter. Implementation of reform at a time when teachers are involved in an industrial dispute and have been directed by their unions not to engage in preparations and training for it is unacceptable. That direct talks have not commenced is worrying. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that when the new Minister for Education and Skills is appointed, there will be a new approach to securing agreement on implementation of this reform in September.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Contrary to the Deputy's opinion, I argue that the Minister has exhibited strong political leadership in implementing a reform that has been 25 years in the waiting. I recall that the leader of one of the unions concerned said in a statement a few months ago, "We have waited 25 years, what's another year?" I do not believe children, in particular those entering post primary education this year, can wait any longer for this reform.

The precursor to any serious engagement on any issue of this nature is that both parties make their views known, preferably in writing. While the Minister's views on the issue have been known for some months, we are still awaiting written submissions from the two unions at the heart of this challenge and opportunity. They have yet to make submissions on how they would like this reform to be implemented and have not as yet taken up the Minister's invitation to meet him. He has continually stated his door is open, but the unions have yet to walk through that door. Until they do, we cannot move on.