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

This is not a normal year. Why then is the Government still entertaining the idea of a normal leaving certificate examination this summer? To do so would fly in the face of the wishes of the large majority of sixth-year students, who made their views very clear in the Irish Second-Level Students Union, ISSU, poll. Anyone who has been in touch with these students will know that real mental health pressures are bearing down. The Government should not compound them by taking a clumsy approach to this issue. Nor should the Government force these young people to compete against each other for a limited number of college places. That is wrong. It is doubly wrong in a pandemic year and it is wrong at a time when our society has a shortage of nurses, teachers, doctors and apprentices - I could go on. The State should invest heavily in third level education to ensure that a college place is provided for all and end the rat race of the CAO system. Will the Taoiseach listen to these young people or will he pretend to listen and then drive on with an unwanted, traditional leaving certificate?

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