Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party has tried to be as reasonable and as constructive as possible in these most trying of times, particularly in the education space. We know there is no easy decision for the Minister to make. We appreciate that she was faced with a difficult scenario last week. We appreciate the efforts she has made to listen to education spokespersons who spoke to her on Monday with concerns we all have about a cohort of students who will be severely and profoundly affected by school closures. We appreciated that she gave us an opportunity to share our views with her, otherwise the only opportunity to speak to her would have been today.

The Minister made an effort to open schools for those with additional needs and for those sitting the leaving certificate. For particular reasons this did not work out and she reversed that decision, which I felt was the right thing to do because there was no way we could open schools until the schools were ready to open. A number of things have happened, however, over the past days that have made it really difficult for the likes of myself to maintain that goodwill. The Minister's letter, sent to each school in the State to be passed on to students, was ill-advised. It has been described to me as "political" and "divisive". The Minister's Cabinet colleagues decided to descend on the media over the weekend to try to make liars out of the trade unions regarding consultation. While it is welcome that today there seems to be a move toward the reopening of schools and special schools for those with additional needs, it is unfortunate that the announcement was release within minutes of us having this debate. It would have been better for us to have a little bit more detail. If the Minister is earnest about her wish to engage with Opposition spokespeople, it would have been worthy of her to have a discussion with us so that we could show leadership to make these difficult decisions happen. On additional needs, is she advocating for those staff, teachers and SNAs who work with young people who have additional needs, to be prioritised for the next round of vaccination?

I will turn to the leaving certificate. The Minister is quite right that there is a huge amount of stress and anxiety among the student body. The Labour Party was the only party not to call for the cancellation of last year's examination because we were unconvinced that a replacement system would be fair. We have more time now, however, and a lot of the issues that were rolled out last year were reversed by the Minister, and we are supportive of this, especially the school profiling element. We would suggest to her that an early decision on this is necessary, which we suggest should be February. Notwithstanding what she is saying, and what various voices are saying, the level of uncertainty is intolerable for junior certificate or sixth year students having lost 11 weeks of tuition in the past academic year, and for the month of January this year. If we are honest with ourselves, the Minister knows that it is much easier to close schools than it is to reopen them. With the numbers circulating around and the death count rising, it is unlikely schools will reopen before the mid-term break or St. Patrick's Day or beyond. We all mention disadvantage. In my submission to her I raised the issue of 16 year old students who have no legal requirement to be in school and the fact that they maybe lost to the system, and many have been lost to the system.

We need to begin talking about post-Covid education in Ireland and what that vision will be. Are preparations being made to repair the profound damage being done by school closures, which are not the Minister's fault or the Government's fault notwithstanding the fact they did not take NPHET advice in December? Can we speak to or focus on young people in disadvantaged backgrounds, in poverty, and with additional needs? Can we have an investment or a post-Covid vision of radical investment in individual tuition, reduced class sizes, resources for schools or for individuals in mainstream schools who are profoundly disadvantaged, who have been damaged and who will be damaged by the continuing school closure?

I will reiterate my three points for the Minister. On the announcement made today on additional educational needs, the detail of which I have not read, I hope it will be worked out and successful. I am sincere in that but I want her to speak to vaccinations. On the leaving certificate, will she make her intention absolutely clear in February? It is very hard to find the Government convincing that the junior and leaving certificate examinations will continue as she has said. My third point was on disadvantage. Can we have a conversation about a radical package to redress the damage that has been done by school closures, and that when the schools are reopened we do not pretend this damage does not exist?

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