Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Rightly or wrongly, I am a person who lives in a world that believes mistakes can be made. In today's society, it seems no mistake can be made. Of course what happened is regrettable for leaving certificate students, teachers and parents. The error caused stress but it was not of the Minister's making. If anybody in this Chamber believes that we will ever get to live in a world where nobody makes errors, then he or she is in the land of make-believe.

I express my admiration for leaving certificate students. As has been said here on numerous occasions, they certainly have been put through the mill. The way they live their lives, socialise, make good friends and play sports has all gone. I spoke to a friend the other day and asked them if this had happened to us in our youth growing up, where we would be and how we would feel.I admire them. Although some may be doing so, they are not all partying or breaking the rules.

I watched and listened to many students respond to the crisis that arose on television and radio programmes and I read interviews with them in the newspapers. I spoke to students from Strokestown, Elphin, Ballygar and Roscommon in the constituency in which I live. Even though some of them lost out, they took a very measured view. They were not into condemning anyone. They wanted the situation rectified. I think the Minister did the right thing. I admire the students for their calmness and coolness. I believe we have good people coming up behind us who will do a good job because of the way they have reacted to a crisis.

I know the Minister is not a person who ever looks for praise, but when the fire was right around her, her dignity, calmness and coolness were outstanding. Sometimes Ministers use the PR stick and when people realise that, they feel tricked. However, those in the silent majority out there admire the Minister for the way she handled a crisis not of her making. I know that if it was of her making, she would stand up here and admit it. That is all people want.

I am concerned about the class of 2021. Covid will remain with us and we will need more funding. I am sure the Minister has taken that into account.