Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 200: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on whether it is necessary to have an annotation on examination certificates for junior and leaving certificate students who are provided accommodation during the examination on grounds of specific learning disability and dyslexia; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15822/08]

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 making arrangements for the marking of work presented for examinations and issuing the results of examinations. A range of accommodations are provided to enable students with disabilities to access the Certificate examinations. For example enlarged print, Braille translation, modified questions, use of a scribe, a reader, a personal assistant, a tape recorder or word processor, may be allowed depending on needs. The scheme was introduced following the report of an expert advisory group, and the introduction enabled opportunities to be provided for exemptions where a candidate was not in a position to demonstrate achievement in a core area of assessment.

Annotations on certificates only apply in situations where a core area of a subject is not assessed, or where the mode of assessment used has the same effect. This is used to ensure fairness and integrity vis a vis other students who have been assessed in these components, and in order not to mislead the end user of the certificate.