Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has secured Cabinet approval to ensure a widening of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act does not lead to the creation of school league tables.

The move follows an extension of the Act’s remit to include Education and Training Boards, which were constituted last year from former VECs and Fás training centres.

A spokeswoman for Mr Quinn explained "it would be unfair if you allowed data from ETB schools be released, when there would be no data from other schools, and from a policy perspective it would lead to the creation of crude league tables."

The decision will not affect the compilation of the third-level “feeder school” tables as this data is drawn from CAO and third-level institutions.