Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Feighan for raising the question and he is happy with the answer he received but I want to reassure him that the alignment process and all the detail around calculated grades is very technical. A lot of technical work went into it over the last week. Right up until today we have been working hard on it. Clarification around that will be published tomorrow.

Deputy Carroll MacNeill asked about the issue of safety. That is at the heart of all of our deliberations. She is correct in pointing out that there will be individual cases with complex needs, including complex medical needs. One of the matters I encountered today when meeting the different stakeholders representing those with Down's syndrome and autism as well as the boards of management of special schools is that there is a big challenge to get this right. However, safety will be at the heart of all of our deliberations and anything we will try to bring forward in terms of a summer programme will also be directed by the public health advice.

Deputy Carroll MacNeill also raised the issue of students with UCAS offers from UK universities. We are working towards a date for the results to come out that would be aligned to the traditional date of the leaving certificate.

We cannot commit to a date yet because we have to start the process associated with the calculated grades. Once tomorrow's publication becomes available to all teachers, the process can start and then we can start working towards a specific date.

I know from my conversations with the UK Secretary of State for Education, Mr. Gavin Williamson, as recently as yesterday, that there is a lot of collaboration. There will be flexibility within the whole third level sector, not just at home. Mr. Williamson was very clear he wants to work with us. There will be flexibility at an all-Europe level for our students who go to other EU countries.

Deputy Higgins talked about the months of lost schooling, specifically regarding special educational needs. One of the main pieces of work I have been doing over recent weeks has been identifying these gaps. There is anecdotal evidence from parents that they are seeing a regression in their sons or daughters in some instances. Therefore, we will continue to try to have a summer programme that could help in combating those challenges.

I will not get into the question of repeating examinations. What we want to do is ensure a transition, a steppingstone. A very clear message from the stakeholders today was that they want a transition. The summer program could help in that regard. September will see a new approach. It may be different. Depending on the public health criteria, we do not want the vacuum from 12 March until September to be negative in any way for children with special needs.

I will be happy to take details of the school mentioned by Deputy O'Dowd. The teacher-allocation process is independent but I will certainly get one of the inspectors to look specifically at the case.

Deputy Durkan mentioned the 2020 class. I agree with him wholeheartedly in that the class should not be labelled in any way differently. That is why the leaving certificate the students will receive will be a State-recognised certificate, the same as last year and the year before. I note the Deputy’s point on planning for special educational needs. We have a planning department. It tries to take in as much information as it can, including from local authorities, in terms of houses being built and where it is projected there will be increases in population. The department has an almighty task but it tries to work with the best information possible.

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