Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I apologise for stepping out before speakers had finished. Mr. Ahern made the point about continual assessment during fifth year in the form of Christmas and summer exams. I am one of those people who believes continual assessment should be used a lot more. As I said to the officials easier, 40 years ago when I did my leaving certificate, we were talking about how the Germans were well ahead of us and how slow we had been to react. Of course, it took a pandemic to get us where we are at present and we still talking about end of year exams being the key.

What is Mr. Ahern's view of continual assessment in the form of further coursework happening in fifth year or sixth year? Maybe that has been answered already. One of the other points to emerge in recent times is the access to traineeships and apprenticeships, which is important. I know from my daughter who is doing her leaving certificate that there seems to be a huge concentration on the CAO, that is the option, rather than the other options that are available and that are quite important for us as a society. If we are trying to deliver a viable plan into the future, it cannot be all graduates. There is a need for greater focus on traineeships and apprenticeships. What are the views of our guests in that regard?