Fianna Fáil Senator Mary Fitzpatrick has told the Seanad that Sunday newspapers seem to be better informed about the future of the Leaving Certificate than members of Seanad Éireann.
She criticised her party colleague, Minister of State for EU Affairs Thomas Byrne, for not providing sufficient information to the Seanad regarding progress made in Leaving Certificate talks.
He was before the Seanad this morning, substituting for his colleague, Minister for Education Norma Foley, who is meeting with teachers' unions today.
"It is disappointing that the department didn't provide more information to this house," Senator Fitzpatrick said.
"It seems Sunday papers seem to carry more detail than this house is being informed [of] by the department and I don't think that is appropriate", she said.
Senator Fitzpatrick called on the Minister for Education to come before the Seanad to take questions around the timing and format of this year's Leaving Certificate.
She said that young people have had to live with many different aspects of the pandemic, including their parent's loss of income, dealing with remote learning and uncertainty around their final exams.
"They lost five months of their senior cycle," she said.
Minister Byrne said that Government is acutely aware of the challenges and uncertainty around this year's Leaving Certificate.
He told Senators that Minister Foley hopes to provide clarity on the Leaving Certificate in the coming days and paid tribute to the work of teachers and students for carrying on through remote learning.
Senator Fitzpatrick asked that Minister Byrne go back to his Government colleagues and tell them "that we want clarity and certainty and choice for the students of the class of 2021".
