Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not agree with the Minister's interpretation of the legislation. I refer to section 4(5)(b), which states,: "The Commission may, following a review referred to in paragraph (a), withhold all or any of the accredited grades comprised in the Leaving Certificate 2021 in respect of any candidate by whom, or for whose benefit, the communication concerned was made." That is the only sanction envisaged in the legislation. It states clearly "for whose benefit", as it would potentially be, even if they had no benefit or desire to get involved in such lobbying or canvassing. It is far from inconceivable. The Minister appears to have conceded the principle but I am not confident in her interpretation of the legislation. It states clearly that this can be withheld. There is no qualification of that in this section. All that the sections the Minister has quoted do is talk about the process for a review. What if the review concludes that there was lobbying and canvassing, which is substantiated, and finds that the student was not aware of that? Either the Minister is saying that there will be no sanction for anyone or the sanction is the withholding of grades and it will apply anyway. Which is it?

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