Extra Time in State Exams for Students with Dyslexia and Dyscalculia: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2025-11-12
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Joe Conway (IND), Cultural and Educational Panel

I will preface my remarks by saying that I spent over half a century in the classroom and working in colleges of education. When I was in primary school, I, like a lot of people, had the traumatic experience of watching children in the classroom who had difficulties with reading and working with numbers being beaten for their failures. It left a huge impression on me.
When I started out as a young teacher in the early 1970s, the concept of dyslexia was rarely mentioned. We know from the history of Irish education that from the foundation of the State into the 1980s, before treatments for dyslexia and dyscalculia began to become the norm, an awful lot of children were fiendishly badly treated by the system for what were perceived as their failures. I am sure that had a lasting psychological and emotional impression on them for the rest of their lives.
Today we know about one in ten pupils in Ireland have dyslexia and an indeterminate figure undergo the effects of dyscalculia and dyspraxia. It means that a lot of children go through the gates of our schools with a condition that is often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. If it is undiagnosed, we know it is pretty much untreated. Their difficulties lie in processing speeds, spelling and written expression, not in their intelligence or work ethic. That distinction is hugely important because what is perceived as failure is something that is internally programmed into their system and should inform our approach to examining these children.
Coincidentally, in the House of Commons in Westminster yesterday, one of the education committees discussed dyslexia and dyscalculia. The issue was championed by a Liberal Democrat MP, Adam Dance. He spoke about dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia in the classroom in the UK. He described the manner in which these conditions are diagnosed as a complete postcode lottery, a term which is probably has more currency in Britain. When we use the term "postcode lottery" in this country, what we really mean is that those who can pay for assessments are often able to get them whereas those who cannot do not. The MP mentioned that 86% of people in income managing families can get a diagnosis, whereas the figure falls to 45% in lower income families. I would say that is replicated in our system.
I want to congratulate and say a big well done to Senator Curley and the other Members present for bringing this issue forward from our education committee. It needs ventilation and it is great to have the Minister for Education and Youth here to join in the discussions and deliberations. I know she will not go away unattentive of our pleas and what we are saying.
We are discussing systems that exist in other sections of our society. Trinity College, just down the road from here, and many other third level institutions grant additional time for a range of reasons. We have to ask why that is not available in our second level institutions. We have supports like scribes, laptops and spelling waivers under the RACE scheme, but extra time is not standard for State exams. As Senator Curley said, this impacts a student's grades. It is proven that a student with a learning disability who has extra time can perform much better in exams. A student from Our Lady's Bower in Athlone who came before the committee said students are almost defeated before they start. They know they will not have enough time and that impacts on the rest of their performance. A lot of students are failing before they even set out, which is an awful stamp of rejection for a kid of 15 or 16 years of age. Those exams in the public sector determine future avenues. We all love to look at our children and hope they have the prospect of a good career in a college or wherever else. That will be affected by a student's performance in State examinations.
How can supporting students propel them ahead of their classmates? Extended time accommodation would, to some degree, level the playing field. Our leaving and junior certificate exams are almost entirely tests of written ability and memory and verbal recall. Extra time would only allow pupils to show what they actually know and not how fast they can regurgitate or reproduce information.
There is clearly a hunger for change. Dyslexia Ireland has a petition that has gathered over 30,000 signatures calling for extra exam time. We, as legislators in the Upper House, have as a result of the deliberations in our committee brought this very worthy motion forward. I am happy on behalf of the Seanad Independent Group to give it every ventilation and support. The solutions are obvious. If it can work with the RACE system, we should be able to tackle this. It is tick of a pen stuff really.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-11-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:18+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-12