I thank the OECD for its massive contribution to the development of Irish education over the past 30 years or so. It was its initial report at that time that brought education onto a higher plane and has been so helpful to our development, in the broadest possible sense, over those decades. I welcome the organisation's decision to establish a separate education directorate and it is a clear indication by the Secretary General of the OECD of the central role that education now plays in economic and social development.