Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for asking these specific questions. His asked when the written leaving certificate examinations will be held. They will be held this year and the earliest possible date for that is November. I stated publicly that I would like those examinations to be held during the Hallowe'en break in October. They cannot be held in August because the calculated grades will not be out until then. There is an enormous process now to be gone through. The opt-in option for people who are engaging in the calculated grades will arise in a few weeks' time and out-of-school learners will also have an opportunity to opt in. There will then be a process of standardisation. It is, therefore, a complicated process.

I publicly stated my ambition to have the results out as near to the traditional date as possible. As the Deputy knows, that traditional date is in mid-August. There are no guarantees that will happen but once we move to the next phase of the opting in, we will be in a better position to see where we will be in August.

The answer to the Deputy's question about the SUSI grant is "Yes". While SUSI grants are based on 2019 income streams, there will be an option for parents and students to look at changed circumstances in 2020.

The Deputy raised the issue of the parameters for social distancing during summer provision. Guidelines and advice on social distancing have been given. As the Deputy will be aware, schools were informed of the guidelines two days ago and are awaiting the specific guideline on social distancing. That has not been published yet because there will be a meeting with stakeholders tomorrow. Once that meeting has taken place, we will be in a better position to publish the guidelines.

On the issue of school returning, let us face it, we were given the green light to open schools by public health officials last Friday week. Our schools were closed on 12 March and we were given the go-ahead to open them last Friday week. Since then, we have been prioritising summer provision and the rules, guidelines and guidance for teachers and principals. I get the frustration. There is no question but that people are frustrated because a principal has the goodwill of special needs assistants and teachers to go ahead with July provision but is still awaiting the guidance. We will be in a better position tomorrow.

I am over time but I will respond to the last question the Deputy asked about the support of children with Down's syndrome. I expanded the scheme. The scheme was specifically for children with autism and severe and profound intellectually disability. We expanded it to include children with moderate cases of disability and Down's syndrome. We also expanded it to include early intervention classes but students who are not in those early intervention classes are not included. Nobody feels more than I do for the parent whom the Deputy talked about but, unfortunately in this instance, only early intervention classes will be included.

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