Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Although her portfolio does not fall under the Minister for Education, it is great to have her here.

I am seeking clarification with regard to an issue that has emerged in my part of the world in the past four or five days. I would like the Minister for Education to make a statement on the plans in place to accommodate students who are due to sit the State examinations in June and are deemed to be close contacts of a person who has Covid-19. We have put in place a platform of work for the leaving certificate such that a student who is due to sit the leaving certificate examinations may resit the examinations if affected by a family tragedy, Covid-19 or other circumstances. However, the junior certificate student does not have the ability to do that. Many of those due to take the junior certificate examinations this year are 16 years of age. They are not eligible for the booster vaccine so if they are deemed to be a close contact they must restrict their movements for seven days. Today, there are three young people in west Cork who should be sitting their mock examinations but because they have been deemed a close contact they have had to remain at home. I was contacted by their parents at the weekend. While they are willing to put up with this for the mock examinations, they want to know that if this happens again in June their children will have an opportunity to resit their examinations. That is an exceptionally stressful issue not alone for the students but also for the parents and teachers.

We need to find a solution for those under 16 years of age who under regulation are not eligible for the booster vaccine but when deemed to be a close contact must restrict their movement for seven days because on that basis they will not be allowed to sit their State examinations. It is an appalling situation. The Department website provides clear guidance in respect of leaving certificate students who, ironically, are eligible for the booster vaccine. Junior certificate students who are under 16 do not have that opportunity. This is a really significant issue that has the potential to affect thousands of students over the next few weeks. This is happening at the moment in my constituency. I am sure that Deputies and Senators throughout the country have similarly received telephone calls about it. We need to find a solution that accommodates teenagers who are under 16 years of age and therefore not eligible for the booster vaccine, but if deemed a close contact must restrict their movements for seven days and on that basis will not be able to sit their State examinations.

I realise that the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, is meeting today. If one reads the papers, which are rarely wrong, NPHET is to recommend the lifting of the requirement to wear a face mask within the education sector but there is nothing about amending the State examinations process in regard to the junior certificate cycle. We need to find a solution. We need NPHET, the Department of Health and the Department of Education to come together in the next few hours to find that solution; otherwise this dilemma which thousands of students, parents and teachers are in will continue. It is totally unacceptable.