Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 349: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his Department has plans to introduce cooking as a compulsory subject on the schools curriculum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24653/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The concepts of 'Balanced Eating' and 'Healthy Exercise' underlie the Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle syllabi in the Home Economics curriculum at post-primary level. One of the five areas of study in the Home Economics Syllabus at Junior Certificate level is Food Studies and Culinary Skills. The purpose of the Culinary Skills component is to ensure that each student is capable of completing a range of skills necessary to be self-sufficient in the planning, preparation, cooking and presentation of food for individual and family groups. Culinary Skills also helps develop and highlight particular aptitudes in the culinary areas and may help to develop students' interest in the vocational aspects of the food industry.

The Home Economics — scientific and social — syllabus is an applied subject for Leaving Certificate combining theory with practice in order to develop understanding and solve problems. One of the core areas of the Leaving Certificate Home Economics syllabus is Food Studies which has been designed to enable students to have the knowledge and understanding of food and food-related issues necessary for personal and family health and to develop and extend organisational, manipulative and creative skills in relation to the preparation, cooking and presentation of food. The most extensive topic covered in the Food Studies area is the preparation and processing of food. This includes the Irish food industry, food commodities, meal management and planning, food preparation and cooking processes, food processing and packaging, food additives, food legislation, food spoilage, preservation, and food safety and hygiene.

In addition to the curriculum itself, my Department participates in initiatives such as National Healthy Eating Week, which is promoted by the Department of Health and Children in co-operation with my Department and the Association of Teachers of Home Economics. It is a themed week during which activities to promote the concept of healthy eating to the whole school are organised and delivered through the medium of Home Economics including cookery demonstrations, projects, and displays.