Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

The issue of education appears to be highly topical in the Seanad today and rightly so. I note the presence of children in the Visitors' Gallery and I welcome them to the Seanad. Speaking on education is one of the Seanad's primary aims and Members should try to change things for the better. Senator Jim D'Arcy spoke earlier on the new ESRI study that has been conducted on streaming and it is the matter on which I also intend to speak. While Senator D'Arcy mentioned Dr. Dorothy Watson, Dr. Emer Smyth and Dr. Selina McCoy were the co-authors of the report on streaming, Improving Second-Level Education: Using Evidence for Policy Development. The debate on this matter has been ongoing for some time and this is not the first report compiled in respect of it. In 2007 the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment issued a report, the findings contained in which were exactly the same as those in the report to which I refer. We can discuss this matter until the cows come home——