Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to stand here today and say I have great confidence in the Tánaiste, Simon Harris. Before I was elected, which was only last year, I was a lecturer in TU Dublin and I saw at first hand the work he did to transform that sector when he was the first Minister for higher education.

I saw him raise the status of apprenticeships. I saw the pride of those students increase when they could walk around campus and feel more equal to all the other students. In particular, I saw the work he did to enable students with intellectual disabilities access college and third level places. Again, I saw those students transformed, contribute more to class, and to their classmates and making a greater contribution to society overall, and most importantly, as fully valued members of society. For those reasons I fully support the Tánaiste.

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