Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I echo the Cathaoirleach's comments on the famous and wonderful former Senator Paul Coghlan. He was a wonderful spirit and character who will be sadly missed. I was in Killarney on Sunday evening for the removal of the remains and there was a great crowd there. Paul Coghlan was a special character. He was great fun and had great insight into politics. Life is built around characters and he is certainly one of the characters I will miss. I acknowledge the Cathaoirleach's wonderful contribution. Paul was a friend to all of us and we feel his loss deeply.

I raise the issue of the State Examinations Commission, SEC, how we are fixed with the leaving certificate examination and, in particular, the maths paper that students sat in the last few days. Three days into the leaving certificate examinations, this whopper of a maths paper came out. The condemnation from all sides has been unbelievable. I will refer to some of the comments that have been made in the media on this. Mr. Tom Lowry, the principal of a school in Westmeath, was on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday. He said: "I have only one message for the SEC: shame on you." That is very strong terminology from a school principal. Mr. Eoghan O'Leary, the vice president of the Irish Mathematics Teachers Association, teaches in Hamilton High School in Bandon. He described how teachers and students believe the maths examination was cruel and crushing. He said it was tipped more in favour of failing than passing. It is a really significant issue that the SEC put forward this maths paper. The issue with this paper was the change in form and the wordiness of the questions. Students found it hard to understand what was being asked in the questions. It was not a maths examination they were sitting. One of the issues I find hard to understand is that the Dyslexia Association of Ireland has been campaigning for so long to have extra time allotted for examinations. What did the SEC do? It did not give extra time. The knock-on implication is that it set more wordy questions in the maths paper to make sure these students would find it harder to do exams. This created a very significant issue three days into an examination cycle, which is hard on a good day, without making it more difficult. There are significant questions for the SEC and the Minister. I respectfully assert that the Minister needs to issue a response. I do not accept the argument that we will have the same number of A, B and C grades. The real issue here is that confidence among the school community has been shattered in the last few days. I have had parents, teachers and students contacting me about it. The SEC needs to make a decent statement, as opposed to the one it issued which was not appropriate in any way.