Mr. Paddy Flood:

My major concern, if I may make the briefest of points, is on the student voice. The reality is that the student voice was not heard and the Laura Lundy model was not recognised in Ireland in the past. Now that it is being heard, the other part of hearing is to respond. Do we respond to students? We greatly welcome the fact that the student voice was responded to last Christmas in the model that was used for the leaving certificate of 2021. This is linked to Deputy Conway-Walsh’s comments about the group for the 2022 leaving certificate and the issue of disadvantage. I have significant concern that the most disadvantaged students have missed parts of two consecutive years of education. They are now in sixth year. These are the students who probably have experienced the digital poverty and digital divide and have been disadvantaged most during lockdown. That has been reported on by Trinity College Dublin. Their voice needs to be considered in the context of what model is going to be used for 2022. I would not rule out some form of improved accredited grades system being used and welcomed by those students. It would be interesting to hear their voice.