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

I appreciate the Minister's comments. We share the ambition of putting the child and the student at the heart of the education discussion. Schools have broken up for the summer. Yesterday would have been the last day for many primary schoolchildren. They are moving on to the next stage of their education and some of them are moving into second level. Can I ask the Minister about the commitment she gave a month ago on a catch-up fund? I was appreciative of the Minister's comments that Senator Bacik and I have been campaigning on this since last February and the Minister made a commitment on 3 June that a catch-up fund would be announced to enable children, not just in terms of a summer programme but over the course of the next year, to repair some of the damage that has been caused by the lack of in-school teaching. There was teaching and learning going on but as the Minister knows, much of it was outside of school and done remotely. Can I get an update on the Minister's intention to announce and fund a catch-up fund for next year?

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