Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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334. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if any studies have been conducted by his Department on the reading habits of children under 12 years of age, outside of reading required for school; if he will provide the results of these studies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46727/13]

Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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335. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way the reading habits of children under 12 in Ireland compare with the European Union average; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46728/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 334 and 335 together.

In 2009 the Educational Research Centre carried out the most recent National Assessment of Mathematics and English Reading. The study looked at the achievement of children in second and sixth classes. The study asked a series of questions about reading for fun and reading at home as well as borrowing books from the library. Overall the study found that pupils' value and enjoyment of reading were positively linked with test scores. Full details of the results are available on the Educational Research Centre's website (www.erc.ie).

In 2011, Ireland participated in PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Survey). This is an international study of reading achievement. In Ireland it involved fourth class pupils. It was conducted in 45 countries, including 24 EU Member States. The results were published last December.

PIRLS found that 12.3% of Irish pupils spent more than two hours a day reading outside of school on a normal school day compared to the international average of 11.0%. Nearly 45% of Irish students read for fun outside of school every day or almost every day, compared to a study average of 41.5%. 11.3% of Irish pupils never or hardly ever read for fun compared to an international average of 14%. Irish pupils are close to or a little above the international average on reading for fun, and children who regularly do so score higher on reading tests than those who rarely read for fun. Again, full details are available at www.erc.ie.

The results from these tests and other supporting evidence inform the development of policy within my Department. In relation to literacy, the key policy initiative is the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy which I launched in 2011. The Strategy acknowledges the important role of the family and community in children's literacy development and it sets out a number of objectives to support this.