Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the Taoiseach some questions about the leaving certificate. There is clearly now a crisis of democratic legitimacy around this year's leaving certificate exams. Some 79% of nearly 24,000 leaving certificate students polled by the Irish Second-Level Students' Union, ISSU, want cancellation and a mere 15% want the exams to go ahead. These young people feel that they are being forced to do these exams against their will and that they are, in effect, being bullied by the Government. These young people are concerned, first and foremost, with their mental health and the mental health of their friends and peers. They do not want to sit vital exams in the middle of a global pandemic in a country with the eighth highest rate of death from the virus per million in the world when one excludes tiny states. In 20 years as an elected public representative, I have never before seen a Government decision cause so much mental anguish to so many young people.

I will outline my first two questions for the Taoiseach and then I will come back with another question. Does the Taoiseach accept the findings of the ISSU poll that four young leaving certificate students in five are opposed to the Government's leaving certificate policy? Does he accept that the Government's position on this issue is greatly adding to the mental strain on many young people? A Cheann Comhairle, I want to come back in with a very short question before the end.

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