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

I am unfortunately going to have to truncate the rest of my contribution, though I was going to come in on a few issues. First, I refer to calculated grades. Parliamentary questions that I got back today tell me two things quite clearly. If one cannot get a calculated grade, there is no other option and there is not going to be a written leaving certificate before third level admissions. Students who cannot get calculated grades deserve some kind of plan B. It is a small cohort and something should be done for them, such as an online or oral assessment. It is unfair that they could potentially miss out on a year of third level education. I have written to the Minister asking for the exact statistical model for the school profiling and I ask him to respond to that.

Around 800 schools are listed as requiring additional accommodation. Many of them are or were going through the planning process before that was slowed down by Covid. One of them, South Lee Educate Together, is a new school in my constituency which is in its second year. Those schools may not get planning permission in time to deliver the accommodation they need. Can the Minister ask local authorities to prioritise these applications?

Finally, it is reported that an additional €25 million will be needed by schools for hygiene purposes. Parents are already having to pay €10 a month or €100 a year for the cleaning of schools because schools are underfunded. I ask the Minister to please provide the funding or that cost will be passed on to parents who are already hard-pressed. Those questions must be responded to.

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