Dr. Emer Smyth:

I will make a brief point. In any leaving certificate reform, full inclusion has to be embedded in the whole process so that we do not lose the talent of our wonderful young people. We have seen a sea change in investment and support for children and young people with special educational needs, but we all know there are still gaps. Colleagues, led by Dr. Selina McCoy, are doing some work at the ESRI looking at post-school opportunities for young people. It is a case of resources but also of inclusive practices at the school level. It is also about providing opportunities that will follow on from the level 1 learning programme, L1LP, and level 2 learning programme, L2LP, which have been a success at junior cycle level, and linking them in to options at a senior cycle level. It is also about providing flexible pathways within senior cycle so that we do not have, for example, a ring-fenced leaving certificate applied and that those kinds of opportunities and learning experiences can be experienced by all young people and that they could perhaps take a suite of short courses that would better suit their needs. This is an issue that is probably worth a session of its own.