Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 1508: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason extra points for studying leaving certificate honours maths are not recognised at a college (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1306/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The minimum academic requirements for places on Bachelor of Education courses in all of the Colleges of Education are:

Leaving Certificate Grade C3 Higher Level in not less than three subjects;

Grade D3 in three other subjects;

Grade D3 in Mathematics (either ordinary or Higher Level);

Grade C3 in Higher Level Irish;

Grade C3 in English Ordinary Level or D3 Higher Level.

There are no plans to change these requirements.

Decisions on the award of points and admission criteria for entry to higher education programmes are a matter for the higher education institutions. The universities have formally communicated their collective view that the introduction of bonus points is not likely to achieve the national objective of greater participation in science engineering and technology programmes, and have advocated other approaches which they consider are more potentially effective. The Report of the Points Commission in 1999 considered the issue of bonus points and recommended against such an approach on the grounds that it would lead to a narrowing of the range of subjects taken by students, create pressure on students to make early career choices, give rise to equity issues where the subject was not available and lead to distortions in third level access and provision.