Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to reflect on third level education. There is a lot of talk about what will happen when students go back to college, if they go back after Christmas. Third level educators and the staff and teachers have been left in a grey area as to how they are to teach. They have been left in the grey a few times already this year, and that cannot happen again. I agree with what IFUT has said, that there needs to be a clear, agreed process as to how to conduct teaching and lectures for the new year.

While the student experience is valuable, safety must be paramount, and it would be possibly more helpful for the Minister to give teachers clarity on whether or not they will be online or offline so they do not find in January that they have wasted December preparing for in-room teaching while they will have to adapt to online teaching again. I am also acutely aware of the number of students who are perhaps sitting at home alone in their bedrooms trying to study and the deep impact that is having on them. I know it is very hard to give clarity in these very difficult times, but we have workers who are trying to adapt to what will come, so I ask the Minister to offer clarity in that area.

I wish to refer very quickly to the Debenhams workers. Last night there was an attempt at an overnight grab for stock in the former Limerick and Tralee stores. The workers and their supporters successfully held back the liquidators' attempts to access the stock. I know this has been raised a few times here, but the Debenhams workers have been holding the picket line for seven months trying to get a redundancy agreement. They met with the Taoiseach last week and were hoping for some resolution to this issue. I would posit that if the buying of clothes is not deemed essential during lockdown, this grab attempt on clothes is also not essential. I wish to put on record that these workers are still waiting for a response from the Taoiseach, and the attempt last night would perhaps suggest that it is not as forthcoming as it was implied to them that it would be.