Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my Wexford colleague for his indulgence. I want to assure the Chair that the confident, intelligent, politically engaged young voter with a strong interest in education is a Fianna Fáil supporter. I am glad that he met him.

I am glad this discussion became very much on student focus and how we can do that. I have three questions or points on that and another around Covid. Many of those going through second level have shown amazing resilience. There are far more places in higher and further education than ever before. However, significant numbers of students who have had their education disrupted will not make it through the system and will not complete to leaving certificate. The ETBI has played a particularly strong role, especially in the context of programmes such as Youthreach. We have to look at how the system will respond to those students who have really lost out during this period, who have not been able to avail of senior cycle education and who may have become disengaged. How do we provide opportunities for them?

My second point relates to the fact that there is an issue with regard to international students who may wish to come here but who have received vaccines which have not been approved by the European Medicines Agency, EMA. What approach should we take to address this? There would not be a significant number of students outside the EU in that category.

My third point relates to assessment and performance. The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, has indicated we will review the leaving certificate quite soon. The students this year will have a combination of calculated grades along with the traditional leaving certificate examinations. I am sure it will be done but is there a way of monitoring their performance depending on the option or combination of options they do. I am sure the institutions are working with the HEA to do that. It would be interesting to feed that data into what kind of model of assessment we should have in future.

Finally, on academic freedom, the third level sector has been superb in its contribution to tackling Covid, including by making facilities available.

Professor Ó hÓgartaigh's former colleague, Professor Brian MacCraith, has taken on a lead role, as has Professor Philip Nolan. Many academics are contributing and helping us to learn through this process. I am strong believer in academic freedom and diversity of opinion, both of which have to be respected. However, some academics are deliberately engaging in disinformation or misinformation, particularly around Covid-19, vaccines, and so on. I do not want to mention a particular case that might be springing to my mind of someone in a position of authority. How should we try to address that as a society? I am talking particularly about tenured academics. With academic freedom comes responsibility. There is a challenge to the higher education system, as to how we address the issues of responsibility that come with academic freedom, particularly where disinformation is being spread about Covid-19 and vaccines.