The Education Minister is defending his decision to block the publication of secondary school league tables because they do not give the "full picture".

Ruairi Quinn yesterday secured Cabinet approval to prevent the public and media from accessing exams data which they could use to compile the tables.

He says that information is purely based on reports from third-level institutions into where their students come from.

He says judging schools purely on where their graduates go to college can be "unfair".

The Minister says he wants to give the public access to more "rounded" data on second level education.