I thank the Minister of State for being here with us this morning. I want to speak about the Key to the EU programme, which is a fully-funded EU primary school programme. As the Minister of State knows, in the second half of this year, in just shy of a month, Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a Presidency which will not only shape what we say in Brussels, but should shape what we do at home in our classrooms with the next generation of European citizens.

The hosting of the Presidency is a real opportunity to bring the European project closer to our citizens. The Key to the EU programme also offers just that. It was created by Dr. Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan from UCC and Trish Collier, who is a principal in Kilmurry National School in Cork North-West, my own constituency. It is an engaging programme in active European citizenship education designed for primary level. It gives teachers free curriculum-linked classroom resources with differentiation built in and a Drumcondra-accredited CPD course to support them. This is not an untested programme, it is one of only 13 teacher training programmes competitively funded by the European Union, and it is the only one of those programmes that is based at primary school level. A programme led from Ireland is being praised across the Union as a model of good practice and yet it lacks visibility in the very schools here at home that it was meant to serve.

What I am seeking from the Minister of State is something practical, which is the promotion of this programme. Each August, before the school year begins, the Department communicates with primary schools. I am asking whether this programme could be included in that communication or for the Department to send a single dedicated email letting principals and teachers know that this fully-funded, freely available resource exists. There is no funding sought. It is fully funded from an EU level. No new scheme is proposed. No curriculum change is required because the new primary curriculum framework embeds at its core a wheel of competencies where active citizenship features.

This programme links in with many existing modules and subjects on the current curriculum. There are parts that link in with history, geography and English. We are seeking one act of communication at a moment of real national and European significance. The position stated by the Department of Education and Youth is that it does not endorse any outside programmes but this has suffered exceptions, such as the endorsement of incredibly worthy anti-bully and online safety programmes like FUSE.

This is a programme that is the result of a unique collaboration between primary and third level educators. Just last month, Dr. Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan was appointed by the European Commission to the advisory board of the project, enhancing democratic citizenship education and supporting member states with resources and tools. This highlights just how highly regarded Key To the EU and its creators are. To be getting this kind of accolade at a European level but not be getting it at a national level indicates that something is very wrong.

Active citizenship cannot and should not be an abstract idea. It begins with children in primary classrooms learning what it means to belong to something larger than themselves and discussing how to engage with it and shape it. This programme seeks to do that. It brings the European Union to kids in ways they can understand. This is a fully funded, ready-made way to do that and to open that conversation with children. I see many adults who do not have a full grasp of the European project. If we can start the proper education on this at a young age, it will be really beneficial to our citizens going forward. All I am asking is for the Department to highlight this programme and simply let schools know that it is there.

I thank Senator Lynch for raising this important issue and recognise her very considerable interest in broader European issues. I know she is a vice-president of the European People's Party, which is an important role, and she has a long history there. I think she was secretary general of YouthEPP at a stage in the past. It is really good that this House seeks to embrace all that is involved at European level. I thank the Senator for her continued interest in this area.

The Minister, Deputy Naughton, along with Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, recently met Dr. Schön-Quinlivan, Ms Trish Collier and Mr. Hugh Ahern, the team behind the Key to the EU programme. Dr. Schön-Quinlivan and Ms Collier presented on the Key to the EU programme at the meeting. The Minister acknowledged the work that went into developing such programmes and the positive intentions behind it. However, it was set out that the Department received many requests to support or promote the roll-out of projects, programmes and resources in schools. The Education Act 1998 sets out the key roles and functions in the running of schools. This recognises that school leaders and teachers are best placed to decide on the programmes that are most appropriate for the children in their classrooms and in their schools generally. As a result, apart from a small number of prescribed texts at post-primary level, determined by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, decisions on textbooks, programmes and products to use in schools are therefore taken at school level. External companies and organisations that develop programmes can contact schools directly, but in terms of content, the Department does not have a role in approving, commissioning, sponsoring or endorsing any content in any publication or product. The only requirement from the Department, on any resource used in a school, is that it be relevant to the curriculum. Ultimately, the decision on which resources, if any, most appropriately cover the curriculum also rests with the school.

At the meeting with the Key to the EU team, it was noted that other programmes, such as the Blue Star Programme are available to schools. The Blue Star Programme is managed by European Movement Ireland for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The programme aligns to the primary curriculum and aims to foster a better understanding and knowledge of the EU through classroom projects and activities. This is an example of the issue facing the Department if asked to endorse particular programmes over others. It was suggested to the Key to the EU team that they explore how the two initiatives might align and support each other.

Today is also an opportunity to highlight that the concept of citizenship is already embedded across the curriculum. Aistear, the curriculum for early years, promotes the concept of citizenship and social justice with children and respects them as young citizens. The redeveloped primary curriculum framework introduces being an active citizen as one of seven key competencies. It aims to empower children to understand their rights and responsibilities and to engage with local and global issues. Leaving certificate politics and society aims to develop students’ capacity to engage in reflective and active citizenship, informed by the insights and skills of social and political sciences. The content of these specifications supports the development of an understanding of equality, inequality and diversity in a range of areas of human life, including gender, ethnicity and social class.

I thank the Minister of State for his kind words and for taking this matter today. I appreciate that it is not within his Ministry. Nonetheless, I am quite disappointed with that reply. I am aware of the meeting with Ms Collier and Dr. Schön-Quinlivan. However, we are not looking for sponsorship, as the Department has outlined in the second page of the reply. We are not looking for an endorsement. All we are looking for is that schools be made aware that this resource is available. It seems absurd to me that a primary school funded programme cannot secure a basic level of support from our Ministers during the year of the EU Presidency we are hosting. It is not about sponsorship, funding or endorsement. It is simply about letting schools know that this resource is available.

I take the point on the Blue Star programme. It is an excellent programme. These two programmes are actually quite complementary, yet the way the Department of foreign affairs is putting it is that it is either-or. It most certainly is not. The Key to the EU and the Blue Star programmes can work together, hand in hand.

We have to be very mindful and careful of our position within the European Union when we look at the way in which politics across the Union is fragmenting and the global change we are facing. According to the most recent European Movement Ireland poll, while 82% of Irish people are happy to retain our membership, 26% do not feel that the EU is moving in the right direction, 28% do not know, 37% feel their views are not represented at a European level, and 27% of people do not know whether they are. There is a lack of education there. I take the point about Aistear and the point about the leaving certificate project but we need to do more. This is a resource that is free and that has been widely accredited at a European level. It is shameful if we cannot accredit it and acknowledge it here at a national level when it came from Ireland.

We recently had Dr. Schön-Quinlivan and Ms Collier before the education committee and its Leas-Chathaoirleach, Senator Scahill, and we got to hear from students about their insights into how successful the programme was. I just want to mention that Senator Scahill and the rest of the committee are fully supportive of the initiative.