The Children's Ombudsman Niall Muldoon has urged Education Minister Joe McHugh to bring clarity to the issue of whether the Leaving Cert exams will take place.

He added that this was necessary in preventing further anxiety for students, who are "an already vulnerable group of people".

An online petition calling for the Leaving Cert to be cancelled has been signed by over 26,000 people to date.

Should the exams be cancelled, and if so, what should the alternative be?

Thomas Byrne, Fianna Fáil TD for Meath East and education spokesman, and Ciara Fanning, President of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU), joined us to discuss this issue.

Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page.