Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this topic. He should not be hard on himself about it being 30 years since he did his leaving certificate. I am much older than he is; my leaving certificate was 31 years ago.

This is an important issue. I know the school completion programme is something many young people would have availed of during the summer. When I say, therefore, that we are going to look at July provision and special educational needs, we are also going to look at the whole area of disadvantage. We are going to build support during the summer for vulnerable groups that could potentially leave school as a result of this gap. We are going to continue to work on disadvantage as well as special education needs.

See this speech in context