Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for clarifying that there are 400 students whose course and, possibly, life change as a result of the appeals process. I can well understand why some of the higher education institutions want to get this done as early as possible - I imagine veterinary science, in particular, is one relevant subject - given that there are limits on the numbers of students who can take practical lessons and so on.

The Minister's key role is to try to join the education system together. Clearly, in this case, he has allowed it to slide. UCD was allowed to make the change without any reference to the Minister or the State Examinations Commission, yet the Minister is only calling a meeting to discuss it after the horse has bolted, somebody has put their financial security at risk by taking a High Court action and others have lost out. However, it happened this year and we cannot blame UCD for it. The blame really lies with the Minister for not bringing everyone together to try to work out a common-sense solution. It takes too long to deal with appeals. It seems to be an administrative process that has been allowed to slide. The approach appears to be, "It happens every year and this is the way we do it. We are independent and no one can interfere with us." That has to end.

What the Minister has not said is whether he accepts the decision of the High Court and whether he and the State Examinations Commission will appeal the decision of Mr. Justice Humphreys who will, I understand, be issuing a written judgment in the next few weeks and ordered that the system be changed before next summer. The Minister needs to give an indication that, apart from having a meeting this week with the universities and the State Examinations Commission, which is way too late, given that it should have been done when it became apparent that UCD was changing its policy, the system will change for next year's examinations in accordance with the order of the High Court. Is this something the Minister has agreed to do, or will the State Examinations Commission faff around for the next few weeks and then appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal? The Minister needs to let us know because students and the universities need to know. We need certainty and an examination system in which people can have confidence. Unless the Minister accepts the judgment of Mr. Justice Humphreys, confidence in the State examinations system will be shattered.

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