Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Beannachtaí na Féile Bríde. It is the first day of spring and hope, but there is not much spring and hope for Josh Dunne's family. The House should send its condolences. He was a talented young man with his whole life ahead him. Unfortunately, he is not the only young person to have died in Dublin. Indeed, there is an issue with knife crime around the country. We should ask the Minister for Justice to take this matter up with communities through joint policing committees, JPCs. She should engage with them on examining what can be done to tackle and provide a better response to knife crime.

I wish to raise an issue that I have raised previously, that of the uncertainty around State examinations for leaving certificate and junior certificate students.I have spoken to both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and know they are acutely aware of the extra stress and strain that the leaving certificate class of 2021 is enduring. The leaving certificate advisory group met and listened to the students, which is welcome, and I am hopeful a decision will be made this week.

When all the education partners meet to make the decision and the recommendation to the Government, I really hope they take into account the fact that this leaving certificate class has lost four months of classroom learning, time in which there were no labs, technical work, art work, domestic science or home economics. All of that valuable time usually spent in the classroom has been taken from their senior cycle, and that is before we account for any additional time they lost through Covid-19 or families affected by the virus. On their behalf I ask this week for a decision that gives them options, choice and, most important, certainty soon.