Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte freisin roimh an Aire Stáit. As colleagues said, it is important to thank the Minister of State for her work in this area over the last few years.The major expansion of this programme is something that is positive. It is also important that we thank the teachers, SNAs and schools that take part in summer provision and that we acknowledge the contribution they make. I get Senator Carrigy's point about the difficulty of getting them but there are a lot of teachers who are willing and keen to do this and we need to recognise their work as well. I agree with Senator Carrigy that we need to look at encouraging all schools to put it in their diaries, look at what provision will be needed for 2023 and plan it out. In the majority of cases students are looked after and so on but there are always a couple of difficult cases and one does not want people to be under stress at the last minute. A campaign from the Department to inform teachers, students and schools of the importance of this programme early on would be welcome. I agree with Senator Gavan on the issue of pay for SNAs. I appreciate it is a broader question but SNAs are often well qualified, they do important work and sometimes it is not sufficiently recognised. I welcome the expansion of the programme to include Ukrainian students, which has also been positive.

I want to make a comment on the summer provision forum and the requirement in the statutory declaration that it should be witnessed by a peace commissioner, a commissioner of oaths or a practising solicitor. As a peace commissioner I have often witnessed them and most peace commissioners will not charge. Unfortunately it has been the case that some people bring them in through practising solicitors and they will charge. I was not suggesting the Minister of State was being asked to fill in the forms but it is unfair that for a fairly simple form some teachers are expected to have the signing witnessed. It may be down to communicating that they should go to a peace commissioner and he or she will not charge. It is unfair if a charge is applied by any professional for signing the statutory declaration as it is a relatively simple form.

The second and broader question is on summer provision to help students with special needs who need assistance through the system in various ways. One of my concerns is whether an examination has been done on the impact of Covid. Some of that will not necessarily manifest itself immediately on a student's academic or social development but it may start to develop later on during the student's school career. We know most students survived during Covid. They were incredibly resilient and were able to adapt to home learning and so on but for others there is anecdotal evidence that they have fallen behind. They have not been able to necessarily keep up from an academic perspective and they may not have had the home environment to sort it. It is about that longer term question of dealing with the two-year period that was taken out of a child's education and if there is a need for a specific support down the line that should be available. The summer programme may be necessary for that into the future. I do not know the extent to which empirical studies have been done by the Department but I ask that the impact of Covid on children and young people's social and academic development would be looked at because it is important that if we can do so we would step in and provide those supports. I fully get that for certain students and young people it may not fully manifest itself for a number of years down the line.

I thank the Minister of State for her commitment and work in this regard. The Government's record on this issue is something we can be proud of.