Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. The conversation thus far has been particularly interesting. The point in respect of the leaving certificate results timetable is a very strong one. A message needs to go from the committee that it is in agreement with Mr. Purser in that regard. We have had several years of turbulence in the context of the leaving certificate. Much of it relates to availability of markers and so on, but it was a disappointment to many people in the system that the leaving certificate results are to be released at the same time as they were last year. That causes difficulties, as Mr. Purser outlined strongly. He will have a lot of agreement from this committee on that point.

I want to get the witnesses' reflections on two main points. The first is the school completion rate in the North compared with that in the South. An ESRI study published in 2022 indicated that the proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds who leave school with, at most, a lower secondary qualification is 14% in the North, compared with 6% in the Republic. The rate in Northern Ireland is two to three times higher than that in the Republic. Why is that the case? How can it be addressed? The school completion rate in the Republic is reasonably high, at 91%. In disadvantaged schools, it is 85%. It compares quite well across the European Union. In the North, however, there seems to be an issue. I ask our guests to enlighten us as to the possible reasons for that.

An interest of mine is access to primary school teaching. In order to access primary school teaching in the Republic, a student needs to have taken higher level Irish for the leaving certificate.

People do not need higher-level English or maths, but they need higher-level Irish. I am of the view that the entrance requirements for primary school teaching in the Republic should be changed. It is the standard of Irish one might use in the classroom on exiting primary school teaching college which would be of greater value than that which one has on entering.

I assume it would be disadvantageous to somebody in the North who went to a school where Irish was not necessarily taught or prioritised. Are we disadvantaging students from the North who wish to train in primary school teaching in the Republic because of the Irish language requirement?

I agree with the comments on the timetable for leaving certificate results. School completion in the North is at a lower level than that in the Republic. Can the witnesses reflect on that for me? The Irish language requirement for primary school teaching, and other courses, is an issue. I ask that we focus on primary school teaching if we can.