Joe O'Toole (Independent)

——and if one does the same in the case of trade union leaders, business leaders, etc., they tend to come out with the same list. There are attributes such as creativity, risk taking, articulation, leadership, tolerance, mercy and others which one cannot measure and for which one cannot get points in the leaving certificate or in any examination.

How does one deal with that? We should have a clear objective of the kind of society we are trying to create and then ensure that somewhere along the way those issues are addressed in the curriculum. Cardinal Newman stated that the first quality of an educated person was tolerance. Where do we teach tolerance? I acknowledge that teachers and adults try to give good example. Where do we state, for example, that we tried at least to infuse that idea into people and where does it come into the curriculum? There should be an element of that in the curriculum.

I am winding up at this stage. I have gone over my time. Although I have more to contribute