Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The CAO is a great leveller in the sense that it is totally anonymous. It does not say that one went to Glanmire secondary school or that one went to a school in the South Mall or wherever. It is a great leveller. It is totally anonymous. It does what it says on the tin. It gives everybody, based on a unique identifier, an opportunity to go to university or to pursue a career for themselves that does not look at eircodes, does not look at addresses, and does not look at their background or the school that they go to. It looks on the basis of what they achieved in their leaving certificate.

On the annual pilgrimage that is the CAO every year, one will always have the radio presenter saying, "Bear in mind now, today is not the be all and end all", yet they offer three hours in the morning talking about it. They are saying to young people, "By the way, it is not the be all and end all", and they spend all day talking about it. What an oxymoron. It is not the be all and end all but, unfortunately, it has become this annual pilgrimage to the shrine of the CAO where we all pay homage to it, especially driven by the media. It is a terrible thing because some people are very disappointed and their parents are watching on at them. They have done their best to try to achieve a course, they do not get it, they are devastated and they do not see an alternative route. They do not see a pathway. There are a huge amount of pathways that are there now that never existed before to become a doctor, a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist or whatever. It is more of that we need to do.

In relation to the CAO system, has anybody has provided any evidence of something that would be better? The answer is, "No". Until I hear of something that would be better, that is equally anonymous, that does not look at a person's eircode, and that does not look at the fact that their mother or father did not have a job before them or did not go to the right school, the fact that it is anonymous and that everybody is treated the same is a great leveller.