Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the decision by the Minister for Education and Science to open up a debate on the publication of schools' performance tables. A related issue concerns how much information should be made available to parents and students who must make decisions about choosing schools. While the Education Act 1998 banned the publication of performance tables, at the other extreme some people argue that raw data should be made available. There are a number of models to consider and I welcome the Minister's decision that information will be made available on such models to all partners in the education debate. I can assure Senator Brian Hayes that when we have such a debate, which I would welcome, we will be more than delighted to engage with him on the issue of U-turns.