Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The first point the Deputy made was an interesting one but I will revert to him on it in more detail so as not to delay the meeting. During the past week, we have been working to get additional places identified and people have been great in that regard, but the idea that there are caps on the numbers of people who can be taken into courses, given that there are shortages in the public service, seems a bit peculiar. It is an interesting point and I will revert to the Deputy on the issue of psychiatry and psychology.

I thank the Deputy for his comments about all students getting places this year and will pass them on to the higher education institutions that deserve those thanks and gratitude. I accept his point that this year, the system was imperfect. I accept that some students in the system now may be looking at the television wondering whether they would have got a place if something else had happened, but I would counter that with a couple of points.

The first is that it has been an extraordinary pandemic year and this was the best response that could have been put in place. Second, the additional places undoubtedly provided more opportunities for all students, irrespective of the number of points they ended up with. Third, the percentages of students getting their first, second or third place offers are all in line with or better than in previous years. It is not for me to comment on matters for the Department of Education and Skills - I have to get the division of responsibilities right - but I heard what the chief inspector, Mr. Hislop, said the other night about how little could be done short of going back and running the system all over again, which would displace existing students. There is no perfect solution. There is a long-standing precedent, going back decades, that nobody gets downgraded. While I accept the Deputy is not advocating for that-----