Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will break my contribution into two parts: leaving certificate and other issues and I have allowed about a minute and half after each for the Minister to respond, if that is alright. Some of what I say will be critical so I want to preface it by saying that I understand the Minister and the Department are in a very difficult situation, that all the options were difficult and the decisions were taken in good faith but that does not mean that we should not interrogate them.

Leaving certificate students have endured uncertainty and incredible anxiety. It has been quite an ordeal for many of them. I have said on many occasions that the exam should not go ahead if it was not in the interests of the health and welfare of students to do so. It was right in that context to cancel the written exams. I am not convinced, however, that the right alternative was chosen. Predicted or calculated grades are far from reliable, even where they have long been built into the system and have a basis and track record in standardised classwork, recent State exam and predictions being part of university applications. Here we have none of those things. Teachers are working with students who had no expectation that their pre-exams, mock exams or Christmas tests could potentially carry the weight they now do. There are plenty of students who know they can turn the gas on late in the year. There are also many students who are repeating a subject, including, for example, people who want to train as teachers, and are doing the leaving certificate subject outside traditional school settings, including native speakers of minority languages who may not have had any formal tuition at all. This is a major issue. How will those students get their grades and in general, across schools, what is the guidance going to be on what material can be used to devise a calculated grade? I recognise the determination of teachers to be fair and do right by their students. I know they will do all they can to make this work and they are absolutely right. It would be far worse for this cohort not to proceed. There are, however, better ways. I asked the Minister, by e-mail, before he made the decision, to explore expanding third level education as a partial solution, with students getting their first choice and being assessed by universities only where a course was entirely oversubscribed, separate from a leaving certificate award. Many of the 14,000 students who come here annually from abroad will likely not be coming here next year.

Tá costas leis sin ach ós rud é go mbeidh na hollscoileanna amháin thíos €374 milliún an bhliain seo, is cinnte go mbeidh cúnamh airgeadúil ag teastúil uathu. Mar chuid de sin cén fáth nach bhféadfaí a thuilleadh spásanna á gcur ar fáil, ina measc le tacaíocht bhreise do SUSI thiar agus thoir chun an fhadhb seo a réiteach. I have written to the Minister about Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, and I am still waiting for a reply. It needs to be expanded because in respect of income thresholds many parents are in an uncertain position not knowing whether or when the bar or shop they work in will reopen.

I have raised my concerns about school profiling with the Minister. It needs to be dropped. It would be one thing if all else among schools was equal, apart from results, but schools in fact magnify the disadvantage felt by communities. Students who deserve the chance to do a life-changing course will miss out and students who should not fail a subject or the leaving certificate will fail and that is totally wrong. Tackling the disadvantages that have worsened in recent weeks involves opening up access, not closing it down. I will give the Minister a minute and a half to respond to this part of the question.

See this speech in context