Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh gach éinne. Senator Dolan has covered a lot of the questions. Mr. Kearney and Dr. Ryan might look at the issue of apprenticeships, in particular in certain areas critical to housing. We rely very much on the throughput. There are concerns that apprentice electricians have not been able to get practical experience. When do the witnesses expect things to fully return to normal? It would have been difficult for those who had been pursuing apprenticeships last year. Could we get an idea of when we might see a normal throughput on the apprenticeship side? I accept that all depends on how we predict the pattern and journey of the virus. I realise last year was a difficult year.

I wish to follow up on Dr. Ryan's point about the support services for students on campus including the clubs, the societies, the students union and the support services. It is about getting those back up and running. While some of them have been innovative in what they have been able to do over the past year, it is not the same when one does not have on-campus activity. What structures are in place to ensure that will be in place?

The third issue is something the witnesses might examine. I know there has been a lot of innovation but to be honest, I would have hated to have been a first year for the past year. Those students have had a really tough year, after the difficulties they had coming up to the leaving certificate and then not being able to be on campus for their first year. That is going to present additional challenges when they come on to the campus. They will nearly be getting freshers' day at the start of second year. Some of those issues and problems that Dr. Ryan mentioned will only start to manifest themselves on campus.

I also wonder whether any measurement has been done on the learning outcomes or progression rates from last year's first-year cohort. They would have gone through some form of assessment at the end of first year. They have had a very unlucky and disruptive period and they will need support. Have there been any measurements in terms of what impact the last year has had on them?