Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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On the agenda for the second session of today's meeting is a briefing on the interim additional time measures for students with specific needs when sitting State examinations in 2026. I warmly welcome Ms Celeste O'Callaghan, principal officer at the Department of Education and Youth. From the State Examinations Commission, I welcome Ms Andrea Feeney, chief executive officer, Ms Deirdre Phelan, acting head of examinations and assessment, and Ms Róisín Collier, principal officer. I will call the officials to make their opening statements in the following order: we will have Ms O'Callaghan first and then Ms Feeney. They have five minutes each.

Ms Celeste O'Callaghan:

I thank the committee for the invitation to attend. I am principal officer in the curriculum and assessment policy unit of the Department of Education and Youth, and my remit includes responsibility for matters relating to State examinations. The Department's role here is a broad one of policy oversight, as distinct from the State Examinations Commission's, SEC, responsibility for the operation of the State examinations.

The accommodations provided under what is known as the reasonable accommodations at certificate examinations, RACE, scheme are an important part of the SEC's operational remit. At the outset, it is important to say that maintaining the accessibility, fairness and integrity of the State examinations is of key concern to the Department, as it is to the SEC.

The programme for Government commits to developing an appropriate mechanism to allow additional time for students with specific needs in certain circumstances and ensure that those who use assistive technology can do so in State examinations. This commitment has been considered in the context of the overall review of the RACE scheme, which is being led by the SEC and which is comprehensive and system wide. The interim scheme of additional time addresses this commitment. The Department is aware that the SEC has undertaken extensive analysis of how best to implement additional time, including how to determine eligibility criteria, recognising that the RACE scheme is needs-based rather than diagnosis-based. It has also given consideration to the practical operational arrangements. I understand SEC colleagues will address this in more detail in their opening statement.

In developing the scheme, the Department understands that the SEC has sought to balance access for candidates with special educational needs with equity and fairness for all candidates undertaking their examinations. The Department welcomes the broad-based nature of eligibility for the interim scheme, as well as the SEC's intention to evaluate the impact of this additional time alongside other existing accommodations in order to provide an evidence base for planning for 2027 and beyond. The Department also welcomes the SEC's focus on research and stakeholder consultation as core elements of its overall review.

I thank the committee. I will be happy to respond to any questions members may have.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

I am delighted to have the opportunity to talk to the committee again about the interim arrangements we have made for additional time at the 2026 State examinations. I am joined by my colleagues, Ms Róisín Collier, principal officer in charge of the RACE review, and Ms Deirdre Phelan, acting head of examinations and assessment.

The State Examinations Commission has responsibility for the delivery of the State examinations RACE scheme, which provides access and support arrangements for candidates with special educational needs taking their examinations. The focus of the scheme is on removing barriers to access, while retaining the need to assess the same underlying skills and competencies as are assessed for all other candidates, and to apply the same standards of achievement as apply to all other candidates.

Some 140,000 candidates sat leaving certificate, leaving certificate applied and junior cycle examinations in 2025. Of these, some 36,000 or 26% of the cohort, were provided with reasonable accommodations under the RACE scheme. In launching the 2026 RACE scheme in schools last October, the SEC made a commitment to introduce pilot arrangements for an expanded scheme of additional time for the 2026 certificate examinations for certain candidates already eligible for the RACE Scheme. That is a commitment we made to this committee when we met it on 2 October last.

The board of the SEC has been acutely cognisant of the programme for Government commitment to develop an appropriate mechanism to allow additional time for students with specific needs in certain circumstances.

In late January, the SEC announced details of an interim additional time arrangement for the 2026 State examinations of ten minutes per written examination paper for candidates already eligible for certain accommodations under the RACE scheme. The interim arrangements arrived at for 2026, as with all aspects of the RACE scheme, seeks to balance on the one hand access for candidates with special educational needs and, on the other, equity and fairness for all candidates undertaking their examinations. The interim arrangements follow extensive consideration by the SEC and its board of commissioners of this complex issue in the context of an ongoing review of the scheme of reasonable accommodations as well as the arrangements that currently within that scheme in lieu of additional time. The complexity of this issue includes: how to assess eligibility for additional time in a scheme that is needs based and does not require a diagnosis; how to make changes to any aspect of the scheme when the research to inform the review process is under way; how to ensure that providing additional time for candidates with special educational needs is seen to be fair when time in the examinations is a valuable commodity for all candidates; how to ensure the reliability and validity of the examinations results and thus maintain the integrity of the State examinations; and how to ensure that any measure introduced would be manageable at school level and avoid a separate application process for schools and an additional administrative burden for school authorities.

The interim additional time arrangement of ten minutes per examination will be available to all candidates already eligible for reasonable accommodations in the written examinations featuring a direct intervention, for example, a word processor, reading assistance and a spelling and grammar waiver, and who are not in receipt of additional time under the existing provisions of the scheme. Additional time at a rate of ten minutes per written examination paper will be available in all junior cycle, leaving certificate and leaving certificate applied examinations. The majority of accommodations provided in the written examinations will confer eligibility for additional time of ten minutes per examination paper. There are a small number of exceptions detailed in the circular. All other existing time arrangements will continue to be provided to candidates who are eligible.

This is a major milestone in the provision of additional time under the RACE scheme. It is the first significant change to additional time arrangements in over 20 years and will ensure that 30,000 candidates with special educational needs are provided with additional time in all of their written examinations this year. This interim additional time measure is expected to increase the number of candidates eligible for additional time in the State examinations from 5% under the arrangements that existed up to this year to almost 95% of all candidates being provided with access and support arrangements under the RACE scheme.

The SEC is fully committed to providing an examinations and assessment system with the highest possible standards of inclusiveness, equity and fairness and that enables all candidates to display their achievements. The interim arrangements will see a scheme of additional time that is broad in scope both in terms of number of candidates coming within the scope of the arrangements and the range of subjects in which additional time will be available, and takes a prudent and measured approach to the quantum of additional time.

As part of its ongoing review of the RACE scheme, the SEC intends to build on these interim arrangements for 2027 and subsequent years, informed by evidence coming through research that has been commissioned by the SEC and is under way at this time. The research examines reasonable accommodations in Ireland and internationally, the impact of measures already provided in the State examinations in lieu of additional time, some of which are unique to this jurisdiction, extensive consultation with stakeholders and the wider public, and the evaluation of the 2026 interim arrangement. The public consultation will be live very shortly and the first stakeholder consultation event is being held in Dublin tomorrow.

My colleagues and I are happy to respond to questions from the committee members.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Ms Feeney. We will now go to members' questions.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the group for the work done on bringing in some extra time in exams. It is welcome that there is some progress, even if it is not exactly what was called for. I have a few questions on the decision itself. Which experts were consulted? What were the criteria that led to the decision of ten minutes across the board? Would proportionality as a percentage of each exam not have made more sense? If you were doing a one-hour junior certificate exam, you might get ten minutes and if you were doing a three-and-a-half-hour leaving certificate exam, you might get a percentage of that. Why was ten minutes across the board the way to go?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

As I mentioned in my opening statement, the quantum of additional time is broad in scope in terms of the number of candidates encompassed within the scheme. I think we mentioned when we met previously the challenge of trying to make changes to the scheme while we were reviewing the underpinning nature of the scheme. Introducing ten minutes was an initial step that we intend to build on in future years, informed by evidence that will come through the review process. The consideration involved talking to the Department of education, the National Council for Special Education and the National Educational Psychological Service but ultimately the quantum of time was decided upon by the State Examinations Commission as an interim step, which we intend to build on.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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How much is the research commissioned by the SEC expected to cost? A 2009 expert commission recommended ten minutes per hour of an exam. Why was that recommendation, which had been sitting gathering dust for 17 years, not consulted?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

Three recommendations were made in relation to additional time in the 2009 report. One was introducing a broader scheme of additional time, another recommended removing the spelling and grammar waiver that exists in lieu of additional time, and another recommended removing the additional time that applied to all candidates in leaving certificate English, Irish, history and geography. The cost of the research we are undertaking at the moment is €150,000. It does not just include research. The body awarded the contract is also undertaking consultation and engagement with stakeholders. That includes focus groups, surveys and talking to parents, candidates, representative bodies, teachers and school authorities. It is very broad in the scope of work it is undertaking for the SEC.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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If I may say so, some of the opening statement has what I would call cold language. The SEC admitted that State exams brought with them time pressure when Ms Feeney said "time in the examinations is a valuable commodity", which shows there is time pressure. Why is the SEC persisting with time pressure in general if there is no extra cost to the State to just removing time limits from exams? The language used was "To ensure that extra time is restricted only to those who would achieve no advantage is well-nigh impossible". There should not need to be a time advantage. Is there any integrity in an exam that sets students up to fail in that way?

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Briefly, please. I am just watching the clock.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

The Senator hit a lot of points. The language he quoted is from the 2000 advisory group report.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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It is from the opening statement.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

Not this one. Perhaps a previous one.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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It is there.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

I do not have "well-nigh impossible" in my opening statement.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise. We have to keep going.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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What informed the ten minutes across the board?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

What informed it was trying to do something as an interim step when we did not have the evidence that would underpin what a long-term approach should be. We really want to get it right in the longer term, so it is a step in that direction.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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From 5% to 95%. How did the SEC land on that?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

At the moment, 5% of students accommodated with RACE accommodations qualify for additional time. Under the new arrangements, 95% of students will qualify for additional time, most of them with the additional ten minutes. We ended up there because taking that very broad-based approach was essential. A campaign, which the Deputy is aware of, has been led by the dyslexia association but representations have also been made on behalf of students who have dyspraxia or dyscalculia. We have lots of students with lots of different needs and we are trying to make sure we are not having to distinguish one cohort from the another.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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It is interim. Where does it go from here? Ms Feeney said there would be progress in the years ahead. When will the SEC land on a formula that people can have confidence will endure?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

We want to have this in place for 2027. The work we are doing currently is to have the research finished and the consultation and engagement finished as much as they can be. It is broader than just additional time. We are looking at the broad RACE scheme, not just additional time. We want to have the additional time piece or question clarified in time for the scheme to be announced for 2027. That is really what we want from this process - that we can take confident decisions about the appropriateness of the amount of time and also how to actually make those difficult decisions so that we do not have too many queries in relation to why someone was on one side of a decision or another and we are really clear on the eligibility criteria. We cannot be so at the moment until we have concluded that process.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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Is Ms Feeney confident that that timeline is manageable and doable?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

That is what we have sought. We are due to have final reporting coming through to us in the late summer. We would typically announce our RACE scheme for the following year in October. That is what we are working towards.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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What about submissions and consultations?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

I might ask Ms Collier to talk about consultation. We have a very significant event coming up tomorrow and we are launching our survey.

Ms Róisín Collier:

We have a big consultation event tomorrow with stakeholders, management bodies, teacher unions, parent representatives and student representatives. It will coincide with the opening of our wider consultation, procured separately using online accessible surveys and open submissions. We have done our damnedest to ensure that they are as accessible as possible so that the particular cohort we are trying to serve with reasonable accommodations feel that they can access them. We are hearing all of those voices.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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The officials are all very welcome back and I thank them for their opening statements. This has moved very fast since they came in the last time. Ms Feeney referred to what she said in October, namely, that the RACE 2026 instructions would be issued to schools in October and would not include specific changes on additional time, but that the State Examinations Commission was looking to see what it could do on a pilot basis for 2026. We took it on board that the SEC needed time to follow through on this. The example we were given was a pilot programme for visually impaired students that was being run at the time. Are they the 5% who were included in the RACE at that stage?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

They would have been. Under current arrangements up to this year, the students who were entitled to additional time included students with vision impairment. Blind and vision-impaired students had 15 minutes per hour.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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Previously, I think they were getting ten minutes per hour and then Ms Feeney told us that it was a big change to move up to 15 minutes per hour, and that it was the first change in 20 years.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

Yes.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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During a Private Members' motion in the Seanad, the then Minister told us that the accommodations would be available to all. That was in November, and it moved fast again. Now, we are hearing of ten minutes. Ms Sive O'Brien spoke at the committee's meeting of 2 October 2025, which was the meeting before the officials were here the last time. I think it was the Cathaoirleach who questioned her on her exams and her experience with getting additional time. The example she gave was of how, when the inspector announced there was 20 minutes to go, she got a fright because she had a lot more of the paper to do. The Cathaoirleach asked her what her experience was of additional time and she had never experienced it. We really have to welcome the additional time. Once this review is over, does the State Examinations Commission plan to look at that per hour or per subject?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

I do not want to pre-empt what we are going to do. All I can say is that we would see this as a first step. We have been clear in terms of building and developing more than a first step for future years. We need to be informed and to make evidence-based decisions here. We need to be informed by what is coming through the research and the consultation and engagement with stakeholders.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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Is that what is being announced tomorrow, an evaluation of the 2026 scheme?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

No. We are undertaking a broad RACE review led by a steering group. Additional time is one of the issues we are looking at, but we are also looking at other things, such as greater user of assistive technology in the examinations for students with special educational needs. We are also reviewing alternative formats of examination papers for students with special educational needs; we currently have digital papers but are considering building on that. It is a much broader review. We are looking at the application process, which is a paper-based process at the moment. We want to automate that. The review takes account of all of these things as well as additional time.

What is being launched tomorrow is a consultation and engagement with representative bodies, parents and students, as Ms Collier has mentioned, on the whole RACE scheme. Additional time is one aspect of that. The research is already under way by our service provider and it is now stepping into the space of the consultation and engagement.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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I know it is an interim measure that is going to be teased out with consultation and so on. Is there a chance that students who satisfy the criteria will get this extra ten minutes when they are sitting their junior certificate in 2026 but will not get it when they are doing their leaving certificate because it may have changed? This is being given to students who have a spelling and grammar exemption, people using word processors. They do not get any extra time as it is at the moment.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

They do from this year. The way the RACE scheme operates is that accommodations that are granted at junior cycle can automatically be reactivated at leaving certificate.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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Would that be the case with this, then?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

I do not see us stepping back from this. This is the first step and then we need to see where it goes from there.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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It should only increase, if anything. There should not be a decrease. Is it going to require many additional spacing arrangements in special centres or would a lot of those students already be in separate centres from the main exam centres anyway?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

It is a really good question, and one that we are working through at the moment in terms of implementation in schools. When students are undertaking their examinations, some students are sitting in special examination centres based on what they have already. A student with a spelling and grammar waiver, which the Senator mentioned, may just be in the main centre. We are working through the operationalising of the additional time with school authorities. We are preparing an implementation circular at the moment and we are due to meet management bodies to discuss the arrangements. Part of what we need to look at here is that challenge. We can say it is X amount of additional time. It then becomes a question of how that is implemented at school level. There are complexities associated with that in terms of the constraints on space in schools and the number of special centres and main centres that are currently there. We are working on implementing and operationalising those details.

As part of the input into what we can do and how we can bring this forward, the evaluation of the arrangement this year and how all of that will actually work is part of what we will be reviewing to look at arrangements for future years.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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We know that the number of students with additional needs who are attending mainstream schools and special settings is increasing. Not all of them may need RACE accommodations when it comes to exams but it is a possibility. We could see an expansion of the requirement for a lot of additional separate centres.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

Absolutely. Our number of special centres has increased. We are above 10,000 special centres now - close to 11,000 - compared to 6,000 main centres. Going back a number of years, that number of special centres might have been 8,000. It appears to be growing in a particular direction. The number of candidates is also growing, which increases that pressure. Those demographics will start to shift and come back, but I appreciate that it is likely that the number of students with special educational needs will continue to grow because of the support measures that being put in place at policy level to support young people with special educational needs undertaking their educational journey.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I am up next myself. I thank the officials for coming in. I agree with Senator Scahill's point that this is generally to be welcomed. It is extra time and a lot of people are benefiting from it. I am also reminded of what Sive O'Brien said that day. She said there would be pages of her answer book unanswered. Is ten minutes enough for people with dyslexia, for people who will struggle with the paper and with getting their answers down on paper? When will the State Examinations Commission review this? In 2027, is it possible we could see ten minutes becoming 20 minutes? What does that do overall for examination timetabling when the day is getting longer and the exams are extended?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

There are a few things happening from 2027 on that are interesting in the context of the Cathaoirleach's question about the timetable. Under senior cycle redevelopment, nine revised and new subjects are being examined for the first time in the leaving certificate. Some of those exams will be shorter than the current exams. That will alleviate some of the timetable pressure.

Is ten minutes enough? I suppose the answer to that question is "We do not know". That is why we need to undertake the process of review, conclude that research, conclude the engagement and then take those decisions that will create a sustainable scheme of additional time into the future. It is also about remembering our responsibility in trying to balance the needs of students with special educational needs and the needs of all students undertaking examinations who have an expectation of fairness in those examinations. There are some changes happening in the scheme. There are also changes happening in senior cycle that should alleviate some of the timetable pressures and perhaps make managing additional time at school level more sustainable.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The officials have gone about it the right way - they have collected data, made informed decisions and thought about this. I would suggest that sample test papers be retrieved after the correction process just to see how many unanswered questions there were. From the student's point of view, that is the indicator as to whether this succeeded. I do not think it is all going to be borne out in points or grades at the end of the day. We had conversations with Sive O'Brien when that meeting ended. She has an abundance of knowledge and is a very smart person. She just needs extra time. It is a question of how that happens.

What time will there be to review this? There is another class grouping watching this behind the current leaving certificate crop and they want to know when we will have some certainty about State examinations 2027.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

As I was saying to Deputy O'Rourke earlier, we are hoping to have the work done to feed into the 2027 scheme and to include that detail in determining what the quantum of additional time will be and what the eligibility criteria for that will be.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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What is the service provider that led out this research?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

The company is called AlphaPlus.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Is it an Irish company?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

It is not an Irish company; it is a UK company.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Does it understand the Irish education system?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

It understands the Irish education system. We have done a lot of work with it. We will continue to work with it. We are bringing in other experts it can engage with. It is carrying out the body of work. It has worked in this jurisdiction previously and has done work for other agencies in education.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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We have the contact details for Ms Sive O'Brien who has been before the committee previously. She is someone that should be brought on board for advice. It does not have to be agencies or statistics led. I know this is being done anyway but Ms O'Brien would be a very good person to bring in.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

There is a challenge with trying to engage the student voice. Even for our event tomorrow, we have tried to access students to come to the event because we are keen for them to be there but it can be difficult, particularly on school days, to get students to attend. We are very keen to do it.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I understand.

Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses for attending. A lot has already been discussed. Like many of my colleagues, I welcomed the ten-minute measure when it was first announced but, over time, I have been contacted by parents in my constituency. One mother in particular comes to mind. She said it will make absolutely no difference to her son and, if anything, it will be a negative for him because it is not enough time and he will feel even more of a failure for having been given this "help" without being able to achieve anything with it.

For many parents who fought for this for a long time, it is not good enough, even as an interim measure. I have to agree with them when I listen to their experiences. The witnesses have said that we do not have the research and we need the data. We have had so many children through our system who have been identified with dyslexia and dyspraxia and we can get the research from them very quickly. I do not fully accept what has been said. The UK provides 25% extra time and France and Italy, respectively, provide 33% and 30% extra time. This is being done and there is research and years of development. Is part of the process to look at these other countries?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

On the students for whom ten minutes is not enough, we have been clear that it is an interim step. It is more than students had last year. We are bringing in a significant increase in the number of students who will have additional time. There will be some value to it, in terms of reading, reflection or completion time. It is not the end of the journey in terms of additional time in the State examinations. The research includes looking at practice internationally and at what is happening in other jurisdictions. It is also taking into consideration the Irish context and the measures we have in place with the spelling and grammar waiver. To a point this was unique, but I am not sure whether that is the case now because it was introduced in this jurisdiction in lieu of additional time. There are some cultural factors that need to be taken into consideration and they form part of the research, engagement and consultation also. I see this year as a first step and then we need to see where we are going to go in future years.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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In the previous round of questions Ms Feeney mentioned there was extensive engagement with stakeholders when arriving at the across-the-board ten-minute measure. Were teachers consulted? Were any of the teacher unions consulted? Were student bodies such as the ISSU consulted? Were parents or was any parents council consulted in the process that arrived at the ten-minute measure?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

Not in the interim step but they will be as part of the current engagement. We had meetings with Dyslexia Ireland, Dyspraxia DCD Ireland and representatives of students with visual impairments on additional time along the way, but not specifically on the scheme for ten minutes.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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I see it as extremely problematic that there was no student or teacher voice. I see these as the two most important stakeholders. I am not trying to be over-critical but I am not sure it was good practice to leave out of the entire process the two most important voices when arriving at the ten-minute measure.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

When we spoke to the committee back in October, one of the demands was for certainty and clarity on what would happen for 2026. I might have said the only way we could give this certainty and clarity was to do nothing for 2026 and not have any additional time. What we have done is a step in the right direction. It is a significant change to the scheme. There are, rightly, people who are dissatisfied with the quantum of additional time. The feedback we have received on the scheme has been quite positive, although not from all stakeholders and I completely accept that. I also completely accept the views of Deputy Dempsey's constituents on the quantum of additional time, but this is an interim measure and it needs to be seen in that light. We intend to do the work that Senator Curley described. We have started the process of consultation and engagement with the voices we need to listen to as part of it. We also need to do the research.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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The reason I ask whether students were consulted is that although Ms Feeney has said it is not the end of the journey and that there is more to go with regard to coming to a final conclusion, it is the end of the journey for this year's leaving certificate students. They were not consulted at any stage on what will happen to them in this year's leaving certificate. It is a missed opportunity.

Going back to the strict view of integrity that seems to exist in the SEC, the written paper for music is one and a half hours, whereas for accounting, the written paper is three hours. Both sets of students will get an additional ten minutes. Ten minutes out of 90 is a huge additional measure compared to ten minutes out of 180. Does it bring into question the integrity of the exams if the same amount of time is given to students with the same learning difficulties in two exams, one of which has double the amount of time to be completed? Does it potentially bring into question the integrity itself? Would proportional measures not have made a whole lot more sense?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

I am not sure it questions the integrity of the exam because everybody benefits from additional time - sorry, that is an incorrect choice of word; they will not benefit but they will have additional time for the examination this year.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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Will music students get, in the SEC's view of integrity, an unfair advantage over students doing accounting as both sets of students will get the same amount of extra time in the exams, one of which requires double the amount of time to complete?

Ms Andrea Feeney:

My colleague has pointed out to me that music already has a component other than the final written examination. To go back to the Cathaoirleach's questions earlier about future years, one of the things happening in senior cycle redevelopment is bringing in additionality for work completed outside of the final exam hall in June. The completion of additional assessment components worth up to 40% takes away some of the time pressure. There are a lot of subjects out there that have components other than the final written examination.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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As a general policy, could we please look at why time limits exist and why there is time pressure as a concept generally? We have been told it is going to be cost neutral to the State to ask examiners to sit in the examination centre for an extra hour, or whatever it would take to remove time pressure from every student doing an exam. There would then be no lack of integrity and no question of one student getting any advantage over another. When I was in third level I never felt under pressure to finish an exam but I was pushed to the pin of my collar in every leaving certificate exam I did, and I would consider myself to be reasonably academic. As an overall policy, it is something that needs to be examined. If that could be done, I would appreciate it, as an overall measure heading into 2027. It is probably too late for this year, and that is a pity. I do not understand why we put pressure on students to complete a time pressured exam.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

It is not cost neutral as there is a cost to providing the scheme of additional time and there is a cost this year.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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I am talking about asking an examiner in an exam centre to stay an extra hour. My understanding is they are paid by the day.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

These are special centres. We think we will have to set up additional special centres to fund-----

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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I am sorry; I might not be explaining myself well. There might be 30 students in a classroom or 200 students in a massive exam hall when doing the leaving certificate. If the examiner, invigilator or supervisor sits for an extra hour in the exam hall, my understanding is they are paid by the day and that an extra hour would not have any impact on the State coffers. To take away overall examination pressure would be cost neutral and remove this entire debacle. We could have a verifiable exam that tests what students know and not what they do not know, even if I have overall issues with the leaving certificate itself.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

Senator Curley's point is on time pressure and it is something that needs to be looked at. We are not testing time management. It is not part of the domain of assessment. It is something that is being-----

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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It is though, as I taught time management to my students when it came to the leaving certificate exams.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

Yes, they have to manage their time but it is something that is being reviewed.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have a question but I do have a short statement to make at the end of the meeting. We generally welcome this change. It is good and we hear that in feedback on the ground. It almost contradicts what we all sought but we must also make sure that students have enough time between the exam in the morning and the one in the afternoon so they can have a break. I remember from the leaving certificate that the break is very important. I remember going up to the local shop, getting something, reviving and going back down. We cannot cram everything into one day. It is almost a contradiction but the students also need to have enough time to revitalise and go back in again at their best.

Ms Andrea Feeney:

That is part of the evaluation. Even having more than ten minutes would exacerbate the issue in terms of the time students have after one examination to prepare for the next. As part of the process we have been undertaking, we are conscious of all those issues and will be reviewing and evaluating them as part of the 2026 arrangements.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank all the witnesses for their engagement. A member said to me some time ago about how so many people wake up in the middle of the night having dreamt about doing their leaving certificate examinations. I am sure the witnesses probably still have that dream. They are the people who set those examinations and it is great to talk to them. Good work has been done here. I commend all the committee members on their engagement. Senator Curley really took a personal interest in the issue and led on it, but all members have an interest in it. What has come out of our engagement over recent months has been good and has been welcomed by students. There is fluidity in the situation and I am glad a process is under way to keep an eye on all of it.

As always, I thank the committee secretariat and the technical team for facilitating our meeting. The committee will meet again in public session next Thursday morning, 5 March.