Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will deal first with the issue the Deputy raised about young people. We have been very clear within the Department and used a variety of different means to speak with the young people in our care. A variety of videos, for example, have been issued. They include animations for the younger children and more age-appropriate material for older children and those at second level. We have done likewise for parents. We have also disseminated leaflets containing information to parents and families in co-operation with the guidance from the HSE and public health. Information has also been translated into a wide variety of languages. We will continue to do these things. I also acknowledge that schools are doing excellent work in introducing stay-safe measures and reinforcing those messages within schools.

The Deputy also referred to young people in secondary school and specifically raised issues about third level students. As he will appreciate, the matter of third level students falls within the remit of the Minister with responsibility for higher education, Deputy Harris, whom I have heard discuss issues about communicating the message at third level colleges. As those institutions reopen, I have every confidence that there will be clear communication. In my own area of responsibility, we will be communicating on an ongoing basis and keeping that under constant review to reinforce the message.

I will say to the Deputy the same thing I have said to previous contributors, namely, that our schools and colleges require effort from the whole of communities. It is not a matter that is confined to the young people who attend primary school, secondary school or third level. The wider community must play its part and we all have a part to play. Personal responsibility to keep the virus at bay falls upon all of us.

I reiterate that substitution panels have been formed for primary schools. I appreciate the reference the Deputy made to the expense or otherwise of living in particular areas but our primary concern is to ensure that the panels are up, running and operating. They have worked well at pilot level and we have every confidence that they are going to work on an ongoing basis. As I said earlier, where there is a need for additional members to make up those panels, we will look at that. The panels do not take away from the other resources that schools have in their own traditional supply of teachers.

There is a broader context regarding how we are dealing with these issues, particularly at second level, and a number of resources are being made available to schools. The limit on the number of hours that an individual can work if he or she is job-sharing has been lifted for the first time and schools now have the facility to draw on additional hours from a staff member who is already in place. Career break restrictions have also been lifted. Teachers who were on reduced hours within schools are being offered the facility to add to their hours if somebody happens to absent or out, as the Deputy said. Our professional master of education students are a valuable resource to our schools and will be in a position to make themselves available for additional hours. There is a suite of resources there from which the schools can draw.

The Deputy raised the matter of calculated grades for students this year and potential difficulties facing students who sat the leaving certificate examination last year. I will ask our chief inspector to come in on that matter because I have already referenced the issue.