Some 61,000 children will sit their leaving certificate in a couple of months’ time. While this is always a stressful time for students, this year, when those students are doing their leaving certificate and are getting ready to compete for higher education courses, not only are they competing against the 61,000 within their cohort, but they are also competing against 15,000 students who were given predictive grades over the Covid-19 period. Those students are hugely advantaged by the predictive grades given during Covid-19. While I know the Minister is currently trying to phase that out – and it needs to be phased out - it needs to be done fairly. The students of 2025 will be down potentially 15 to 20 points in comparison with students who did their leaving certificate last year. That could mean the difference between getting a course and not getting a course. There is a way to do this. Predictive grades students could be weighted in the CAO applications for this year. This can be done in some way. There is a way of dealing with this fairly. It really cannot be the case that the students of 2025 are going to be so disadvantaged by this.

This is an issue with which the Department has been dealing with in recent years with regard to how one exits the unique circumstances that pertained in Covid-19. It has not been easy and it is not easy. There is no easy way to phase out the predictive grades system. I will communicate to the Minister that the Deputy has raised this issue. I have no doubt that the Minister is engaging with all concerned at the moment. To be fair to the Department of Education, the State Examinations Commission and the expert people involved in the grading, it is a complex and evolved process. I hope they will do everything they possibly can to be fair to the students of this year.

Tógfaidh muid sos 60 nóiméid anois.