Special Educational Needs
Seanad Éireann — 2024-06-11
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Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown

The Senator is correct. Only 24 children are looking for equality of access and opportunity. It is not too much to ask. The technology is evolving daily. There have been changes to what the Senator and I experienced when we did our leaving certificate a number of years ago, and we would have known individuals for whom no accommodation was made. Changes have reached a 1999 or 2001 standard, but we are in 2024 and will soon be in 2025. We have to make sure the standards are of a 2025 standard, not just for Niamh but for all of the others.
There is a review process based on the use of digital papers, as I mentioned, in this year's junior and leaving certificate examinations. That provides a window of opportunity and there is a responsibility on all of us to seize that opportunity. I will do anything I can to ensure that the Ministers of State, Deputy Naughten and the Minister, Deputy Foley, along with the Ministers in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, as one leads into the other, are in a position to address these situations. I will ensure that is delivered.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2024-06-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-06-11