Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond. He is taking the next three Commencement matters.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to discuss the proposed changes to the scheme of reasonable accommodation in the certificate examinations, RACE. The scheme currently in place allows for accommodations to be put in place for students who need them when taking examinations. There is a proposal from the Dyslexia Association of Ireland to ensure extra time is given for children taking State examinations. In most, if not all, European countries the normal scenario is that students with a diagnosis of dyslexia get extra time to sit examinations. Unfortunately, Ireland does not currently follow the same procedure.

There have been reviews of the scheme over the years, but the expert review group that is always referred back to sat nearly 20 years ago. That is the report being referenced when determinations are made regarding the provision of extra time for students. In the 20 years since the review group sat, we have passed legislation giving effect to a number of rights prescribed by the EU and the UN in respect of people with disabilities. There have been massive changes in technology, including reader pens, speech-to-text technology and so on. For some reason, however, we cannot seem to get over the barrier that the expert report that was published nearly 20 years ago remains the defining factor in deciding whether children with a diagnosis of dyslexia should have the accommodation of being given extra time to complete the State examinations. To compound the matter, there is provision at third level to give students with dyslexia extra time to complete examinations. A different system is in operation at third level. At second level, however, the State Examinations Commission, SEC, does not grant requests for extra time in the majority of cases. Yet, when those same students go to third level, that accommodation is given.

It is bizarre that we have a system at second level based on the report of an expert review group that was published 20 years ago. The world and the technology available have moved on in those two decades. The system at third level has moved with the times, with students given the accommodation they need to reach their full potential. The lack of a similar provision at second level is the subject of continuous debate and argument for parents, teachers and the students who need that support. A total of 10% of our population, including adults and children, are dyslexic. They need the opportunity to reach their full potential. We can enable them to do so by giving them the accommodations they require in the State examination setting. As it stands, students with dyslexia taking State examinations face a troubling scenario in which they are slower than others to read the examination paper and write their answers. Their issues must be accommodated. It is a proven fact that dyslexia is a disability that requires a little extra help. That bit of help in this instance is the allocation of extra time. It is the European norm. I do not understand why there has not been movement to introduce the same provision in Ireland.

I acknowledge and praise the Dyslexia Association of Ireland for its campaign on this issue. It really has come to the fore in campaigning for change. Even if we get movement on the issue today, any change will not apply to the children doing their examinations in the coming weeks. Even with an immediate commitment to change, there potentially will not be any movement for 18 months. The only way we can achieve the significant change that is needed is if the Government moves quickly in the next few weeks to ensure the RACE scheme is modified to give extra time to children who are dyslexic. The lack of such provision presents a very stressful scenario for these children. I appreciate that this issue is not directly within the Minister of State's portfolio. I thank him for his attendance and I hope he can provide an update on what is a really important and personal issue for me.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. I welcome the opportunity to update the House on the issue, which affects many families throughout the country. It is of great importance for a large number of students taking examinations at both second and third level.

The State Examinations Commission has responsibility for the operation, delivery and development of the State examinations. Before I address the Senator's points regarding the RACE scheme, I take the opportunity to welcome the recent confirmation by the SEC that it intends to issue the leaving certificate 2023 examination results on Friday, 25 August. This is a full week earlier than the 2022 results, which issued on 2 September last year. It provides clarity for students, parents, teachers and other relevant stakeholders.

As part of its remit, the SEC provides the RACE scheme to support students with a complex variety of special and additional educational needs. The scheme facilitates access by candidates who have difficulty in accessing the examinations or communicating what they know because of a physical difficulty, visual or hearing impairment or learning difficulty. The RACE scheme is operated by the SEC within the context of the annually issued RACE Instructions for Schools document, which is the handbook for the operation of the scheme. All applications for reasonable accommodations are considered within a published framework of principles.

Starting from the 2016-17 school year, the RACE scheme underwent fundamental reform. That reform focused on a number of objectives, including ensuring greater integration of the scheme with overall Department of Education special educational needs policy, enabling greater access to the scheme by students with learning difficulties, and allowing greater autonomy to schools and certainty to students as to the examination supports available to them. These candidate-centred changes were informed by engagement with stakeholders. They included representatives of students, including those with special educational needs, such as the Dyslexia Association of Ireland and the Special Needs Parents Association, as well as school management, leadership bodies, Government agencies and statutory bodies.

The RACE scheme continues to be subject to a process of ongoing review and improvement by the SEC. For example, recent enhancements include the introduction of deferred examinations, within the policy context of the scheme, for leaving certificate candidates who miss their examinations in the main sitting due to close family bereavement or serious accident, illness or injury. As set out in the 2023 Instructions for Schools, published in October 2022, a number of specific initiatives are being introduced this year for candidates with visual impairments. In addition to the fundamental reform commenced in the 2016-17 school year and the ongoing process of review and improvement, the scheme will be subject to further review by the SEC in the context of reform at senior cycle. One of the key priorities will be increasing the use of assistive technology to enhance access and integrity and further support independent learning. I am assured that the SEC intends to have an extensive consultation and engagement with all the relevant stakeholders in this regard, including the Dyslexia Association of Ireland.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. I welcome that the proposed review will include an examination of the provision of assistive technology, which is a really important factor. It is bread-and-butter stuff. In undertaking the review, the SEC must move away from the report that was published 20 years ago. We need up-to-date guidance. The findings of the expert review group that sat more than two decades ago are out of date. There must be a root-and-branch review of what is required in the new environment and society in which we live today.

We also need to look at what is being done at third level. Students in higher education get the accommodation of extra time, but it is not given at second level. That is bizarre in so many ways. It is positive that a review is being undertaken. It must look at what is being done at third level and move away from the report that was published 20 years ago. The cohort of children going through this very stressful examination who have problems with reading and writing need extra time. I hope they will get it following this review.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The review provides the opportunity to do that.The case made by the Senator to move away from the previous expert report and to look at a third level example, is a valid one. The difference between now and 20 years ago is light years when it comes to providing education for everyone in the State. This is particularly true of the advances for those with dyslexia and others in a similar position. I encourage full engagement with the review by the Senator but also by the stakeholders and bodies he mentioned. There is scope and opportunity to make the improvement that would be so important for those sitting State examinations, not on Wednesday week, of course, but perhaps in the next year or 18 months.