Extra Time in State Exams for Students with Dyslexia and Dyscalculia: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2025-11-12 ============================================================ Gareth Scahill (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach The Minister is welcome. I, too, commend Senator Curley and the other Senators on bringing forward the motion. It was before the education and youth committee. I would like to acknowledge all of the members of the committee present. Extra time for students with dyslexia and dyscalculia in State examinations is an issue that affects families and schools in every county in Ireland. It is long past time that it was addressed properly. Over the years, we have seen remarkable advocacy from Dyslexia Ireland, teachers and parents who simply want fairness for their children. The call is clear and consistent: students with dyslexia and other specific learning differences should have access to reasonable accommodation, including extra time when sitting junior and leaving certificate exams. It is not radical; it is common practice internationally. It is already standard practice in third level institutions here, yet somehow we continue to ask young people in our second level system to compete on an uneven playing field. As everybody has said, in recent weeks the SEC published the RACE 2026 instructions. Schools can now play for reading and writing assistance, spelling, grammar waivers and other established supports, but the crucial issue, and the one families have awaited for years, is extra time and that remains uncertain. The SEC has stated it intends to introduce a pilot scheme for extra time for certain candidates already eligible under the RACE scheme in 2026, but beyond that single line there is no detail. Dyslexia Ireland has information on its website. It wonders which students will qualify, how much additional time will be given and when the information will reach schools. That uncertainty is more than an inconvenience; it is causing real anxiety for students and parents trying to prepare for next June. Schools are being asked to plan in the dark. We need clarity now, not next spring. We do not need another review; we need this now. This issue did not appear overnight. In fact, the SEC's expert advisory group recommended the introduction of extra time as far back as 2009. Some 16 years later, that recommendation remains unfulfilled. To clarify, a number of Ministers have held the office during that time. I understand there were Fianna Fáil Ministers for five and half years and Labour Party Ministers for just over five years. We are now coming up on five years of Fine Gael Ministers. I join with Senator O'Loughlin in saying that we believe the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is the one who can deliver on this. We have faith in her. Earlier this year, Rosie Bissett, CEO of Dyslexia Ireland, and her colleague, Donald Ewing, appeared before the Committee on Education and Youth and made their case passionately and clearly. As a number of people have mentioned, Sive O'Brien is a senior student from Our Lady's Bower in Athlone who has campaigned for this. She is an unbelievable example of the potential of a young person who is overcoming a difficult situation. She left an impression on everybody at that committee. The question we all left the meeting asking is why it is taking so long to get these students additional time. It is not just an abstract policy question to me. As a former member of Roscommon County Council, I recall clearly a motion brought by Councillor Laurence Fallon in February calling on the council to write to then Minister for Education urging the introduction of extra time for students with dyslexia and other learning difficulties in State exams. Support across the chamber was extraordinary - almost unanimous. It was not just procedural support; many councillors across all parties spoke openly about their own experiences - late diagnosis, school struggles and the moment of realisation when they finally understood what they were facing and that it had a name. It was an honest, human discussion - the kind of conversation we need more of in public life. Councillor Fallon reminded us all that one in ten people in Ireland will experience dyslexia in their lifetime. That means every classroom, every school and every community is affected and probably even this Chamber. As we heard from parents and teachers across the country, the processing time for students with dyslexia and dyscalculia is significantly longer, and doing the same work as their peers takes greater effort and more energy and often leaves them mentally drained long before the clock stops. That fatigue does not just affect results; it affects confidence, mental health and the young person's whole relationship with education. When families tell us their child just needs a little more time, that is not a request for special treatment, it is a plea for fairness and a level playing field on the most important days of their school lives. Senator Curley also mentioned what the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, said here back in June. We are looking for immediate publication of full details of the extra-time pilot including eligibility and duration. We need to ensure no student is disadvantaged by delays in communication or processing. We need to expand the pilot to cover all students with various specific learning differences by the 2026 exams. We need to look at making extra time a permanent standard accommodation within the RACE scheme. The simple message I tried to get across when we spoke about this at the education and youth committee was that the State Examination Commission was looking for additional time to evaluate all the information. It is the very same thing the students suffering from these conditions are looking for. I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I know she has spoken to us before about this. I thank her for taking that on board. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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