Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

It can be used by colleges but they do not seek to use it. The State Examinations Commission has already examined the matter to ascertain what is best practice and how to ensure that people are not disadvantaged in any way. The appeal was taken because we felt strongly that the tribunal had gone outside its remit. It challenged the type of accommodation offered and spoke of the leaving certificate as a standardised test, which it is not. It dictated that individually suited accommodation based on individual assessment should be offered in cases, and that the range of accommodation currently available should be continued into the future. The tribunal strayed into the area of educational, curriculum and assessment policy over which it has absolutely no remit. That would have had far wider consequences than the issues that were at stake in this particular case. That is why we appealed it.

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