Luke 'Ming' Flanagan
Question:226. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 140 of 11 March 2014, when teachers can choose a tablet such as the Microsoft Surface 2 which is, compatible with Microsoft Office applications such as, Word, Excel and Powerpoint, can be used for ECDL examination preparation and training for teachers and students and can be used for learning of visual basic, C sharp and C++ programming and SQL database language, but instead, the teachers choose a toy fashion accessory, the Apple iPad, at twice the cost to parents, and which cannot be used for any of the aforementioned learning, is the Professional Development Service for Teachers (Technology in Education) completely neutral in respect of this damaging choice by teachers; his views that this is a damaging decision and one on which he will take immediate action to rectify and in order to prevent further damage to the prospects and opportunities of our students and in order to minimise expense to parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16653/14]
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