Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Burke for appearing before the joint committee. I want to touch on two issues. I will come back to the issue of reasonable accommodation which has been mentioned by Deputy Charlie McConalogue.

Is there any move to introduce an online system of paying examination fees to the State Examinations Commission? I understand the fees have to be paid in a bank. One cannot even pay them in a post office. This creates difficulties for people living in rural areas, or those working full-time who may not have access to a bank. Is consideration being given to the introducton of an online payment system?

I understand 13.5% of students who made applications under the reasonable accommodation scheme last year, including children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, Asperger's syndrome and autism, were refused support. We have heard about many cases from people who have come to our offices. I have printed the details of three cases with which I have been dealing. A woman called Laura told me about her son, who has dyspraxia, Asperger's syndrome and various other difficulties, including physical ailments, outside of his learning difficulties. She and her son applied in March 2014 for a scribe in the leaving certificate examinations, but they did not receive a decision until March 2015. They were told the delay had been caused by a significant backlog of cases. If people in such circumstances could be informed at an earlier stage, they could prepare. I know of other cases in which occupational therapy reports requested by the State Examinations Commission were submitted in support of applications, but the applications were refused, despite the provision of documentation from qualified professionals. This is something that needs to be looked at.

In many cases, pupils who received support in the junior certificate examinations are being refused support in the leaving certificate examinations. I know of a young girl who applied for a scribe because she has a difficulty with her handwriting. The State Examinations Commission examined her application and asked her to take a short test - that is how her mother described it to me - before adjudicating that her handwriting was legible. The point the family has made to me is that the requirements of a State examination over a number of weeks are not reflected in the State Examinations Commission's short handwriting test. This was not taken into account and the student in question was refused a scribe. I accept that her handwriting was probably legible during that short period, but it would not be physically possible for her to maintain that level of handwriting over the course of successive days of examinations.

These real issues need to be addressed. In cases in which reports have been received from professionals in support of the provision of assistance for students who previously received such assistance in the junior certificate examinations, how does the State Examinations Commission come to a decision not to grant assistance?