Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the specifics of how much time students will have on-site etc., that will be a matter for the institutions when timetabling and it will vary from institution to institution. We are starting from a point this year of wanting a majority of experience to be on-site rather than online. Timetables will issue from institutions in the normal way. Over the course of the next weeks and through the month of August, students will start to get their individual timetables. The prevailing public health advice is key. I would never do anything to risk the health and safety of our students or staff. The vaccination programme will do a lot of the heavy lifting between now and then. The Deputy knows what happened in the last academic year. Effectively everything was online. Libraries sometimes were not open, workshops did not take place and classrooms were closed. All of that will take place now.