Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and equip them the way we want them equipped. I salute them for doing a wonderful job. There is a Dublin branch to the History Teachers' Association of Ireland. I did not know that until today. These teachers are doing a wonderful job in imparting knowledge to our young people. I commend teachers in general, but today is for the teachers of history, including retired history teachers who dedicated their lives to educating and equipping our young people for the future. I hope that they see Seanad Éireann as standing in solidarity with them and the work they do in order to remove the uncertainty. Some of it was fostered through ill-informed commentary and some of it was caused by departmental officials and Government. We are here to resolve problems. If there were no problems, there would be no need for politicians. I hope that, moving forward, the waters will be a lot calmer, that history will be considered a core part of the educational curriculum and that we will not have to come back here at any stage in the future to highlight the need for the teaching of history because it will just be considered a given.

It is timely and powerful that Seanad Éireann is unanimous in its clear support for the principles behind the motion. The message to the people of Ireland through Seanad Éireann to the Government, the Minister and his Department is that history is important. We believe that it is not just important but critical to our education system and the children in it. Take note that Seanad Éireann unanimously adopts the motion and expects its sentiments to be delivered on, not just by this Government, but by future Governments.