LEAVING CERT BUSINESS HIGHER AND ORDINARY:IRELAND'S LOW corporation tax rate, unemployment and foreign direct investment were three of the topical matters tackled on yesterday's higher level Leaving Cert business paper.

Business is one of the more popular elective courses on the curriculum, with almost 19,000 candidates sitting yesterday.

“The paper was very straightforward and examined all the core elements of the course,” said teacher John McDonnell of Gortnor Abbey, Crossmolina, Co Mayo.

“It covered all the usual topics, such as sale of goods and supplies, employer-employee conflicts and Maslow’s Theory of Motivation. But it also touched on some more topical issues such as the effect of unemployment on business, and the impact of Ireland’s corporation tax rate.”

William Murphy of Dublin’s Institute of Education described the exam as “a pretty standard business paper”. The short question section was well-received, apart from question 1, on retailers’ use of own-brand products, which was seen as “tricky and specific”.

The applied business question, often disliked by students, was seen as “reasonable”, with two of the three parts having appeared previously. “Surprisingly, there was very little reflection of the dramatic changes in the business climate since the economy went into recession,” Mr Murphy said.

Mr McDonnell commented in a similar vein, adding: “This course has been in play since 1997 and should certainly be reviewed in line with the changes that have taken place in the Irish business environment in the intervening years. For example, if teachers want to discuss the recent IMF bailout or the banking crisis, they have to go off-syllabus to do it. A review would be welcome.”

About 3,700 candidates took business at ordinary level yesterday. The paper featured all the expected topics, but the question on the London Olympic Games and their promise for Irish business was welcomed as a change.