Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his offer to come back to me with further information. Further claims are being made that inadequate consultation occurred before Project Maths was launched. In particular, it is claimed that the Irish Maths Teachers Association was under-represented on the NCCA board. I ask the Minister to check how many fully qualified and probated teachers were on the NCCA curriculum board.

In its interim report on Project Maths, UCC stated: "There is an immediate need for a supply of textbooks to cover the new material." It recommends that the NCCA, as a matter of urgency, should encourage the production of such textbooks, both in print and in electronic form. The Minister might confirm if this is being prioritised.

From my own observation, I would like to highlight that the paper poses particular difficulties to dyslexic students, and other academics have expressed similar concerns. This year, students were forced to flick back and forth between an answer book and a question book, which were attached together, and many dyslexic students found this most difficult to manage. I ask the Minister to examine this issue for future exams.

I look forward to hearing the Minister's response. We have many questions to answer and it is not just a matter of a quick response. We need to think about why our children are not succeeding in maths. Just because we are to give 25 extra points does not mean a student who gets a D3 grade in maths and earns 70 CAO points is capable of studying engineering or science subjects. We need to look seriously at this issue.

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