Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join other speakers in acknowledging St. Brigid's Day and its significance in marking springtime. Outside, it is a fantastic spring day. I acknowledge that spring is starting.

There are two events I want to acknowledge. The release of Mr. O'Halloran, particularly the work done by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and his Department, needs to be acknowledged. It has been a long battle. Diplomacy was the key. I am not referring to microphone diplomacy but to making sure we got the man home. That was a really positive step.

We also need to acknowledge that the announcement on the leaving certificate this afternoon is one that the many households will discuss at length in the next few days. At home, I have a niece who is to do the leaving certificate this year. Her view last Saturday was that she would be in favour of having the system. The big issue is reform, however. There needs to be reform. The reform talked about for the past decade or two, because of how the leaving certificate operates and the pressure exerted on examination day, is the key issue. We need a genuine review of what the leaving certificate will mean after Covid. That involves taking the stress out of the process for students, guardians and parents. This involves a significant body of work. Unfortunately, very little has been done on it in the past 24 months. The work needs to be done. We need to move away from the system that has been in place since the mid-70s, which is such that if a student has a bad day on one examination day, it can affect his or her entire life. That is not appropriate. We need to find a solution that is suitable for the longer term.