Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider the possible utilisation of a company (details supplied) as a means of encouraging interest in local history in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20886/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Decisions on which resources to use for the study of history are made by teachers and their students. The focus of the website referred to by the Deputy is genealogy. While this is of general interest, and promotes stimulating investigative opportunities for students and their families, it does not relate directly to the specific aims of the history syllabuses, and its broader coverage of themes and issues. In addition, it is not the policy of my Department to endorse commercial products.

The history curriculum in schools places a key focus on the skills of working as a historian, using evidence from a variety of sources, appreciating cause and effect, realising that evidence can be interpreted in a number of different ways, and evaluating its relevance.

The website www.scoilnet.ie, managed by the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) gives access to a variety of digital content for teachers, students and parents which are of direct relevance to the History curriculum in schools. This is supplemented by the Look At History through the RTE Archives site, and HIST which has been developed by NCTE in collaboration with the Professional Development Support Service for Teachers specifically for the Leaving Certificate curriculum, both of which can be accessed through scoilnet. Students are encouraged to use a wide range of other sources as well for their investigative work. I have passed the information provided by the Deputy to the Professional Development Support Service for Teachers for further consideration.