Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To be fair to UCD, it was making the point that people starting a course on 10 October, which had started in September, were at a significant disadvantage. Although the exam results always came out on 15 August and appeals were always on 10 October, the trend in recent years has been for colleges to bring the start date further and further forward to try to fit into a new semester system. The colleges depend exclusively on the leaving certificate results. They do not operate any alternative admissions system so there is an onus on colleges to respect the integrity of the examinations system, including its appeal process. That is why I am bringing both together to ensure we get a solution that meets the needs of any student who sits his or her exam and is the victim of an error and that he or she does not find himself or herself at a disadvantage. We need to shorten the timelines and get clear protocols in place. I hope that will be the outcome of this but they are obviously two independent groups. We will work with them to ensure students do not have this same experience next year.