Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister’s comments there. On the leaving certificate, I am glad the Minister acknowledged that not everybody in the Opposition or across society was advocating for the scrapping of the written leaving certificate examinations because the Labour Party was not. We are advocating for independent investigation into what happened this year in order that it cannot be repeated next year. Rather than that being a point of contention between us, will the Minister speak on next year’s cohort and what they may go through if there is an issue regarding the sitting of a written leaving certificate examination next year? There are 60,000 students in sixth year this year who are worried about the potential for a repeat next year. Can the Minister give some level of comfort to them that lessons have been learned from this summer that will not be repeated next summer if it comes to the point where the same decision has to be made? We all hope it does not come to that point but some level of reassurance from the Government that lessons have been learned from this summer would be welcome because sixth year students are watching this very carefully.