Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 334: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to concerns in relation to the limited resources of readers for State examinations for children with dyslexia, in that it appears that the child has only access to a reader on two occasions during their schooling, while sitting the junior certificate and leaving certificate exams; if she will arrange to extend the facility in consultation with school authorities and parents in order that children with dyslexia can have the possibility of familiarising themselves with the system of readers before sitting the exams; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7634/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations, including organising the holding of examinations and determining procedures in places where examinations are conducted.

The State Examinations Commission operates a Scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in relation to the assessment of candidates with special needs at the Certificate Examinations. Reasonable Accommodations are designed to remove as far as possible the impact of a disability on a candidate's performance in the examination, so that he or she can demonstrate in the examination his or her level of achievement — they are not designed to compensate for a possible lack of achievement arising from a disability.

Applications for reasonable accommodations are considered within a published framework of principles recommended by an Expert Advisory Group which reported in January 2000. The range of reasonable accommodations which may be approved for examination candidates include the use of special examination centres; readers for candidates who have reading difficulties; scribes, tape-recorders, and the use of computer technology for candidates who have writing difficulties; exemption from elements of standard assessment; use of bilingual translation dictionaries by candidates who do not have English or Irish as their first language.

Applications for reasonable accommodations are submitted by the school which a candidate attends on prescribed application forms. Applications are normally invited one year in advance of the examination concerned. In respect of the 2008 Certificate Examinations some 4,500 applications for the use of a reader in the examinations have been approved to date.

I am advised by the State Examinations Commission that readers are appointed by the school authorities. The Commission recognises that a candidate may have worked with a particular person during his/her course of study and, in the interests of the candidate, the Commission accepts that a school may wish to nominate as reader such a person or some other person from the school locality.

A person nominated as reader should have a capacity to read the question paper in any language subject chosen by the candidate. It is acceptable to have different persons act as reader to match the subject choices of the candidate. The Commission informs schools that, where the person acting as reader is not familiar with the candidate's requirements, it is desirable that he/she should attend at the examination centre on the day before the examinations commence in order to meet the candidate and to allow for practice sessions with the candidate.