Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 237: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if she will include the examples of good practice in Finland's education service in our future planning. [20796/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My Department, in its policy formulation process, has regard to international good practice and to policy responses which have proved effective in other jurisdictions, where they are considered to be appropriate and valid. More generally, Ireland is also involved in a range of EU, OECD and other multilateral processes which facilitate structured discussion, exchange and information-sharing between international stakeholders responsible for education policy and planning.

Within the European Union, formal and informal meetings of the Education Council of Ministers permit Ministers to set priorities for co-operation and information sharing by Member States. Processes such as peer-learning activities, conferences and joint reports facilitate practical and focused exchanges in pursuit of these priorities. Ireland is also an active participant in a range of OECD education programmes, such as the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and the International Indicators of Education Systems (INES), which provide a structured forum to conduct rigorous research-based forward planning on emerging educational issues, benchmarking the performance of national education systems in comparison to those of other member states and assessing and monitoring the effectiveness of various policy responses.