Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt but that the impact of Covid-19 has been severe on children. It is a once in a century pandemic, which has turned everybody's world upside down, but that is particularly true for children. It has led to isolation at a family level. Children born in the past year, for example, have not been able to see their wider families which is important, at a basic level, for socialisation and its importance in the early development of a child. Schools were closed for different periods during the first lockdown and the third wave of the pandemic earlier this year. The Government has done everything it possibly can to support children throughout the pandemic, not least in getting schools reopened last September, which involved unprecedented investment in resources for primary and secondary schools and childcare settings to enable the return of services and schools. A range of supports was provided to enable that to happen. Unfortunately, the third wave interrupted that in the first quarter of the year but, thankfully, we were able to get kids back into school. It is a measure of our society compared to other countries, in that we were in a position to more consistently prioritise education for children above and beyond other sectors of society or the economy. We imposed localised lockdowns in the run-up to September last year. That was not popular but we did it to ensure we could facilitate the restart of education in September and could carry it on through the rest of the year. That was an important policy objective and priority.

The Deputy mentioned disadvantage and the digital divide and what she said is true. My initial feedback was that the online experience was difficult and challenging for schools to operate although it was better the second time around during the third wave. People got to learn more and improve their modus operandi, practices and so on. However, nothing ever replaces the personal interaction between a teacher and a child or a special needs assistant and a child in the classroom. That said, we have now, as part of the recovery and resilience programme and in our submission to Europe, identified a significant investment in technology for education including high-speed connectivity and the deployment of devices. That investment is heavily weighted towards supporting children in circumstances of socioeconomic disadvantage. The Delivering Quality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, programme has been a significant intervention. It was brought in by Fianna Fáil when it was last in government. I have had a long and consistent position in terms of addressing educational disadvantage. I was involved in developing the original school completion programme when I was Minister for Education and Science. That is being reviewed at the moment and we need to refine it to ensure we target the children who are most in need. The digital transformation programme is about dealing with digital disadvantage.

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