Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

An extraordinary report appeared in The Business Postlast weekend to the effect that the Government is considering vaccinating 61,000 students in order to allow them to sit the leaving certificate. I wonder which vulnerable group in society would be pushed down the vaccine queue in order to allow for such an extraordinary measure. I wish to ask the Minister about reports regarding the widespread medication of leaving certificate students in order that they can last the course and sit the exams. Last Sunday, primary school principal Siobhán Fitzgerald wrote to the Minister an open letter. The letter told the story of Ms Fitzgerald's daughter, a leaving certificate student, whom she described as bright, intelligent, sporty, empathetic and very creative. Her daughter does, however, suffer from acute anxiety, and this anxiety has seemingly been well and truly activated in the course of her leaving certificate cycle.

Ms Fitzgerald goes on to say that she brought her daughter to the doctor who offered to prescribe medication to help get her through the build-up to the exams and the exams themselves. The doctor said that he had prescribed such medication to many other leaving certificate students. Since Sunday, I have told this story to doctors and students. Individuals from both groups confirmed that this is a widespread practice, with one doctor telling me that leaving certificate anxiety is particularly acute this year. Why would it not be? Students have had greater disruption to their leaving certificate cycle than any other cohort in the history of this State. There has been not one major disruption, there have been two.

Let students' voices be heard. One student wrote to me:

I have been so worried. I keep crying whenever I think about it all. It is so difficult at the moment and my mental health has just gone down the drain.

Another said, "This government would rather me suffer more frequent and intense panic attacks than cancel an outdated exam." The Minister should cancel the examinations. She should not only do that, she should also guarantee an increase in investment in third level education so that each student in the leaving certificate class of 2021 will have the offer of a place in college next year.

My first question is: has there been a discussion between the Minister and her Cabinet colleagues, formal or informal, about mass vaccination of leaving certificate students to facilitate exams? Second, will she write to the National Educational Psychological Service to ask for expert opinion on the mental health implications of carrying on now with leaving certificate 2021? I also ask the Minister to please comment on the point I raised about the mass medication of leaving certificate students, which is a very serious issue.

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