Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)

I thank the speakers, Ms O'Callaghan and Ms Feeney.

Ms Feeney mentioned in the conclusions and further review section of her submission the increased complexity. She also mentioned that about 6,500 people are benefiting from the RACE scheme or accommodations at the moment. This discussion is targeted directly at dyslexia and dyscalculia. I mentioned earlier that one in ten people come under that umbrella. On average, 70,000 people sit the junior certificate examinations each year and 55,000 or 60,000 sit the leaving certificate examinations each year. If we target this directly at the topic being discussed today, a lot of people who come under that bracket are not being accommodated. Ms Feeney mentioned that the SEC needs additional time to get through the complexities of this. That is the same experience that the people suffering from this have. They need additional time accommodations.

I do not know whether Ms Feeney heard Sive speak earlier about her experience. She is the exception rather than the rule, because predominantly people who suffer with these conditions have lower self-esteem and go into themselves and are the people in the classroom who might not be noticed. I commend Sive again on the way she spoke today and on how she is embracing her superpower and throwing it out for people to see her as an example.

This goes back to the Department of Education and Youth as well. If we look up delays in both the SEC and the Department, the common response is that more time was needed to accommodate this. Why not now? Why can we not have a pilot to look after the significant number of students we are talking about?