The school secretaries have had plenty of acknowledgement. However, it is not acknowledgement that they are looking for - it is pay equality, decent pay, pension entitlements and improved conditions. They want to return to the WRC, and I believe that they are willing to do so. However, that must be on the basis of addressing the real issues they face. It is not enough to go into the WRC with the Department taking a very closed attitude that it is just going to deal and engage on the basis of the proposed modest pay…

An issue seems to be arising in schools across the State whereby families are being told either to choose between the unit and the mainstream if their children are in an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit. I understand that this is not required or appropriate. It is happening in the absence of guidance. There is limited guidance provided, amounting to four lines in the roadmap. Will there be further guidance to ensure this is not happening?

I am glad to hear it is the Minister of State's firm belief that children with special educational needs should not be denied the opportunity to be part of the mainstream class and to have the associated interaction. My concern is not that it is the Department's intention that it should be otherwise; it is that what I describe is happening. Not every parent is necessarily willing to bring it to the attention of the school they are dealing with that they are unhappy with the way things are being handled. I have come…

It is welcome there is a very clear message but it is certainly my experience that special education teachers in particular feel the guidelines are not adequately clear and that the NCSE needs to be more assertive. Yesterday's budget included provision for 1,000 special needs assistants, which I welcome, and it follows similar measures in the previous years. However, the manner of the allocation of these special needs assistants will be crucial. It will involve the roll-out of the new allocation model. There are co…

I read last week's guidance on remote learning. There were some issues with it, including the heavy reliance on special educational teachers. I was especially disappointed that the document continued to ignore any facilitation for children and staff who have high-risk parents at home and cannot attend school as a result. These parents have been asking for guidance for months. Some schools have acted of their own volition to put in place remote learning for these children but the Department continues to refrain from…

When I raised this with the Minister previously many of these parents were anxious. Part of the difficulty here relates to how broad the high-risk category is. The very high-risk category is extreme and specific and obviously there are particular provisions for that category, but the high-risk category seems to take in everything from mild asthma to leukaemia. Many parents are highly vulnerable and their children are seriously concerned about them. The situation is even more grave now than it was at the time I firs…

That brings me on to the latter part of my question relating to Medmark. There is increasing anxiety among school staff. I have raised with the Minister previously the fact that I believe there is a need for greater leadership and communication on the situation in schools. Schools may be relatively low-risk environments and children may be less likely to transmit the infection, but they are not without risk. School staff have significant concerns, especially those school staff who are at high risk. The Minister men…

This is an issue that is arising throughout the State with schools that are just narrowly missing out on the school census. These circumstances change. Some are related to Covid-19, like Glasheen school near me, where many of the parents may work in hospitals and universities, who may perhaps be international and who may not be there next year. Many such schools have lost out. They may be in old buildings where breaking up classes is not an option. I know that additional teachers are mentioned in the budget specifi…

I will primarily speak about the education elements of this budget. The pandemic demonstrates that Irish schools are underfunded, understaffed and overcrowded. This has slowed the reopening of schools and it means that keeping schools open safely and sustainably is extremely challenging. It is a challenge that teachers, school staff and principals face every day. We have much more to do on that front. Budget 2021 provided the Government with an opportunity to finally address some of these long-standing matters faci…

Níl agam ach tréimhse ghairid. Táimid ag déileáil leis an mBille seo 17 bliain ar aghaidh ón Acht agus an scéim a bhí ann ó thaobh na scéimeanna teanga. Bhí sé i gceist go mbeadh a scéim féin ag gach eagraíocht pobal. Go minic, cuireadh scéim amháin ar fáil, d’éag sé, bhí sé imithe agus ansin níor tháinig aon rud ina dhiaidh. Cé go raibh an fealsúnacht dhearfach agus bheadh solúbthacht ann do na heagrais faoi leith, is léir nár oibrigh sé in ainneoin go raibh an dearcadh agus na haidhmeanna ceart ann. Tá an cur chu…

Trade unions have shaped the modern world. They have brought us weekends, paid leave and protections of all kinds. They did so through the struggle and toil of thousands, including in this country. It is not the case that the trade union movement in Ireland or anywhere else is beyond criticism, but the fact remains that, anywhere one cares to look, strong trade unions and a high percentage of workers in them mean better pay, better conditions, more security and better standards. That is an objective fact, not only …

The leaving certificate class of 2020 has endured an extremely difficult year. "Endured" is the only word for it. Three months before the examinations the schools were shut due to the public health emergency. As weeks passed, students faced the uncertainty of whether they would even sit the leaving certificate examination this year. There was postponement, cancellation and then uncertainty about what model would be used. These young people have had a horrendous year. In ainneoin sin, lean siad ag obair leo go tréan…

The Minister talks about four characters. I have heard the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Harris, talk about them. This is not abstract stuff. Four characters represent hundreds of students and the futures and dreams they have for their courses. This is not academic, it has real implications. What might seem small on a spreadsheet is very significant in terms of the error that was made. The Minister talked about having no intention of keeping people in the dark. People were kept in the dark for over a week. The Mini…

Much of the frustration of students and families is about the lack of transparency and the fact that they have been kept in the dark for a week, much as the Minister disputes that. As I said, the Opposition and the Cabinet were kept in the dark as well. The Minister still has not told us why he did not insist this issue be discussed at Cabinet and that his Cabinet colleagues knew. The other groups kept in the dark were the third level institutions and the Higher Education Authority, HEA. At the start of his answer …

How could they do that without the HEA?

There are two issues I want to raise with the Minister. I will be as brief as I can. The first is in relation to Cork. There is little other talk than concern around the potential move to level 3. There is also the very serious situation in hospitals. Dr. Ronan Boland told Claire Byrne's show on Tuesday that there were just three acute beds left between the Mercy University Hospital and Cork University Hospital, CUH, to treat any acute case that might arise among Cork's 500,000 people. Yesterday, the Mercy hospital…

The leaving certificate class of 2020 has been through a terrible ordeal. Every year the leaving certificate is difficult but no other leaving certificate class has had to contend with a pandemic, the postponement and cancellation of exams and the ongoing chaos of the calculated grading process. Sinn Féin expressed serious reservations about calculated grading from the beginning. We argued for a different approach that would have focused on allowing as many students as possible to achieve their first choice course …

The Minister has announced an external review and appointed ETS to conduct it. The company is entirely independent of the Department and this process. A paper from the national standardisation group to the independent steering group and the programme board stated that Dr. Kentaro Yamamoto was appointed in an expert role, which included a level of contingency cover for Polymetrika, as technical adviser on the standardisation process and to provide expert advice and oversight regarding data integrity. He was part of …

Will the Minister explain how Polymetrika came to take up the role and how it was chosen?

Deputy Barry asked the Minister a number of questions. While she gave the context, she did not actually truthfully answer them. I do not want-----