Last night, I received a message from a Cork mother who is fearful that her son is so stressed by the leaving certificate carry-on that he could come to harm. She said it is at the point where she is sitting on his bedroom floor every night while he sleeps, just to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, the Minister for Education is telling the media she hopes to be able to outline to the Cabinet on Tuesday next an alternative option to the leaving certificate. There will be six more nights of watch and anguish for this mother and six more nights of anguish for 61,000 leaving certificate students, who are sick to the back teeth with the Minister's talk of tomorrow, next week, never today, always mañana.

Students should not be forced to compete against one another for limited college places, least of all in a pandemic year. The Government should invest in third level education, adopt a policy of open access and open a place in third level for every leaving certificate student who wants one. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister please to get a move on here?

I commend the Minister on her work in developing a leaving certificate for this year. Is it not time that we agreed to accelerate reform in the leaving certificate? It is a tyrannical test that serves only the interest of higher education wanting an easy way of access. It undermines vocational education and is a straitjacket on teachers who want creative learning. It is long past time that we accelerated the reform of this exam, which the OECD stated is too narrow and too rigid and does not match Ireland's needs for the future, or the needs of students sitting the leaving certificate.

This global pandemic has caused enormous stress, anxiety and strain on people generally, and no more so than on younger people in terms of the degree to which their lives have been upended. The routine pattern of life has been completely disrupted. Particularly in the context of this year's leaving certificate, given that the students lost some months last year and have lost some this year, it has been a particularly stressful and an anxious time for them. Last year, we had similar levels of anxiety and stress. It was managed, albeit the traditional leaving certificate did not proceed. There were predicted grades and students came through that and advanced to third level. It was not optimal or ideal but we always have to keep things in perspective. Many of us in this House sat the leaving certificate. We thought it was the toughest exam and the toughest period but years later, one looks back and asks what all the stress and anxiety was about.

The second point-----

The time is up, Taoiseach.

The Minister is engaging with all the partners. It is the correct way to do this so that when we make an announcement, it will have been thought through and there will be clarity for the students.

There has been reform of the leaving certificate over time and that should be acknowledged. There will be ongoing reform of the leaving certificate. Its one greatest strength is that it is impartial and it avoids subjectivity.