482. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the evaluation mechanisms in place to assess the effectiveness of current youth drug prevention curricula in primary and secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7547/26]

Hildegarde Naughton, Minister for Education and Youth: My Department works together with the Department of Health, the HSE and other agencies to support students in the area of health. The aim is to equip students with the skills and knowledge to enable them to make the right choices for healthy lifestyles throughout their lives. Schools have a critical role to play in supporting their students to develop the key skills and knowledge to enable them to make informed choices when faced with a range of difficult issues, including drug and alcohol use. This is now mainly done through the Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curricula.

The last two decades have seen considerable evolution of NCCA’s curriculum review and development processes. An example includes the introduction, at post-primary, of early enactment reviews of individual subjects and modules. The purpose of these reviews is to monitor early enactment of the curriculum specification in schools. This involves consultations with teachers, children/students, school leaders and wider stakeholders, primarily through school visits, online surveys, and written submissions. Findings are published on the NCCA website, with necessary minor adjustments identified in the findings subsequently made to the specifications. These reviews have also informed the development of further supports, such as more tailored professional learning to assist schools’ work with the curriculum.

It is anticipated that early enactment reviews will be carried out in the coming years to monitor schools’ experience with the revised SPHE curricula at Post-Primary level. Such reviews will incorporate close work with schools and public consultation. The new Primary Curriculum (introduced in September 2025, including the Wellbeing strand which comprises the SPHE framework) will be reviewed in line with usual practice in the coming years.