The topic that is on many people's lips this morning is the decision of the ASTI to withdraw from talks on the leaving certificate, which Senator O'Loughlin raised earlier. As a former teacher, I understand where ASTI is coming from regarding calculated grades. We need perspective in this debate but, as Senator O'Loughlin said, to walk out of talks is wrong.

I would appeal to the ASTI to come back into talks because the students, teachers and parents of Ireland all deserve certainty and an end to the dialling up of the rhetoric.

Calculated grades are fine in theory. Many commentators who know everything are this morning pontificating about education on the airwaves and in print. Last year we had pre-examinations, Christmas examinations and summer examinations from the year before. This year all we have are the Christmas examinations just gone. I would appeal to the ASTI to come back into talks. The present situation is unfair to everybody. I would appeal to the Minister for Education to come and address Seanad Éireann. Let us have talks and let us do so in a manner that is respectful of all sides.

I ask that the Leader would invite the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Chambers, to come to the House to discuss the rationale and reasoning behind the decision regarding the GAA and its operation at level 5. I have a view, which is probably a minority view, that we should allow young people back playing sport and training in pods of 15. There are young people all over the country today who are frustrated, bored and dying to play a bit of sport. We have playgrounds open under level 5. We have GAA fields, soccer fields and rugby fields, the best in the country, funded in many cases by voluntary donations and by the State. I ask for perspective and that we would allow our younger people to be able to have some bit of optimism and hope by letting them train in pods of 15.

Following on from what Senators Buttimer and O'Loughlin have said, it is important that people dial down the rhetoric and get down to negotiation. I wonder whether the common good is being served by the kind of debate that we are having about the leaving certificate, calculated grades and-or a combination of both. What strikes me listening to the media discussion of this issue is that it is doing nothing to help the situation. National unity is what is required right now. We are in a crisis situation and the real focus of the country should be on keeping people safe and well, and getting the vaccine to people as quickly as possible. The panic ridden discussion about the leaving certificate, the controversy generated by people saying they are pulling out of talks and people clamouring to have their particular point of view on this issue heard is not only pointless, but harmful. What is needed now is a recognition that there is no perfect answer to this problem, there is no possibility of absolute certainty and seeking the perfect is the enemy of the good at this time. I would like to see a private discussion and negotiation where the different parties - students, teachers and parents - are all heard. In the end, it has to be a consultation, and decisions have to be made that will not please everybody 100%.

When I hear the student voice, I am glad that we now listen to the student voice in these discussions but we have to acknowledge the paradox as well. We rightly listen to the student voice in a way we did not do a generation ago but at the same time in the background there is the realisation that if we announce that there will be no leaving certificate there is the risk that students will down tools. It is time that we acknowledge that and give leadership to the younger generation.

I would say talking to people on the airwaves about how stressed they must feel by all of this is doing nothing to help them to be resilient at this time. There is a bigger picture and we need to reach for it.