Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The reason we have chief examiners is because they are the experts. By and large, apart from that paper, there has been a reasonably positive response to the examinations. I take fully the point made by Deputy McConalogue that students were distressed on the Friday evening. It is important to ensure that we are clear in this area. The point that I just made is that the marking scheme is done after the examinations, meaning there is an opportunity to get the balance right and ensure students are not disadvantaged in any way. I acknowledge that their being upset causes a problem because they have to do all the other examinations. The State Examinations Commission endeavours to ensure there are no difficulties with papers. It works very hard to do that and it learns each year from what happens the previous year. I have been assured that it will learn from this instance.

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