Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire freisin as ucht teacht anseo don tarna uair. Taispeánann sé dúinn an tsuim atá aici san ábhar seo agus an tábhacht atá ceangailte leis an ábhar seo freisin. We all recognise how important this is. Earlier, when I was speaking to a colleague, I asked him what he thought about the leaving certificate and all he said was that he did not want to do it again. We recognise how stressful this has been for the students this year and last year. There may well be legacy issues for students next year also. Perhaps what is most important about the Bill is that it brings certainty to the issue. I welcome the Bill because it brings this certainty. It sets out the map we knew was coming and it gives that certainty to students which we know they need. I welcome this.

It is important to set down some other provisions in the Bill. Colleagues have mentioned the ban on canvassing. When we look at the assessment of grades other than by the examination that all of us went through and with which we are all familiar, it is a new realm and a difficult concept for a society as small as Ireland to come to terms with. I know from friends who were in school or college in the United States that it is de rigueurand part of the process there. However, it is a much larger society where there is very clear separation in a much bigger pool between the teacher and the student. Here that relationship is much closer. Teachers are very closely involved with their students. Particularly outside urban areas, teachers are very much involved in society and have much closer links to families and people in the community.It places teachers in a very difficult position. For example, the provisions in the Bill that ban canvassing by parents or students are tremendously important. We all know it should not happen, but it is important to set that out on a clear footing to protect teachers as much as students and parents. I therefore welcome those provisions.

Regarding the hybrid option for this year's leaving certificate, where students get the opportunity to choose the grade that suits them, whether through an examination or an assessed process, I wonder if that is potentially showing us the future of education in Ireland. I ask the Minister to bear in mind the effect this will have on those students who are in fifth year and will do their leaving certificate next year. How we are going to plan for them? Are we going to afford them the same opportunities their colleagues will have in the coming months in respect of the hybrid option? It would be a good thing if that were the case, because we have seen that this system can work.

I echo what was said earlier concerning the Minister having been very much thrown in at the deep end and having had to deal with such immense issues, which would never have occurred were it not for the Covid-19 pandemic and the context of such an enormous sea change in the way we deal with assessing people's abilities as they come to the end of the secondary cycle. I welcome the Bill and its provisions. It is also a mark of the commitment to education by this Government that we have two Ministers specifically dedicated to this area. I recognise that the Minister's remit deals with the provision of education spanning from when children first go to school right up to the leaving certificate stage. That is very important.

It would be remiss of me if I did not use this opportunity while the Minister is in the Chamber to mention that I have been on the phone all day with parents of children at primary school level. While this issue does not directly relate to this Bill, the Minister will be aware of an issue concerning Gaelscoil Laighean in Deansgrange. It is a new Gaelscoil, and the newest school we have in the Dún Laoghaire area. There is some considerable confusion now about where the future of that school lies. It appears there was an announcement that it would be moving to a site in Dún Laoghaire, notwithstanding the fact that when I was a councillor in Blackrock, just a few years ago, we were directly involved in a public consultation for a school in the Blackrock-Booterstown area. Now, it seems there is a proposal to move the school to Dún Laoghaire.

The Minister will understand that parents are quite distressed about that, and also that it is very far away from where they envisaged the school. I spoke to several parents today who changed jobs and moved house to facilitate sending their children to school. Just before coming into the Chamber, I spoke to a parent who has one child in Gaelscoil Phádraig in Ballybrack and moved to a house in Cabinteely specifically to allow the child to attend the Blackrock-Booterstown Gaelscoil, which is closer to where she works. It appears, however, that the proposal now is to move the school to Dún Laoghaire. I am grateful to the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this issue as a Commencement matter on Monday, when I will deal with it further. It is an issue that is very important to the people of that area, and I hope the Minister will take cognisance of the importance of dealing with this matter and giving them some clarity.

Returning to the Bill, I congratulate the Minister. These provisions are important and they will bring clarity and hope to leaving certificate students facing examinations this year.