Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to visiting Cavan and Monaghan with the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and seeing the two institutes in question. The Deputy is entirely correct and I have been making the same point to the Irish Universities Association and the education and training boards. One cannot orientate someone into college via Zoom. Students need to be brought in to the college. To be fair, the institutions are positively discriminating, for want of a better phrase, in favour of first year students and often fourth or final year students and those who need to do practical classes. It appears a common sense approach is being taken. To become attached to an institution, students need to be able to visit it and get a feel for the place. This will be a very different college year and some of the normal college experiences the Deputies and I may have had will not be available this year because we have to keep staff, students and their communities safe first and foremost. A different experience should not mean a lesser one, however. That is the challenge we must continue to work with.

All first year students have been given start dates. The Deputy's point about uncertainty provides me with the opportunity to again encourage everyone to get on to some course this year, whether it is in further or higher education or an apprenticeship. The world is very uncertain and the routine and structure of that could be very helpful as we work our way through what will be a difficult few months.

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