Questions

185. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether the State Examinations Commission issues any guidance, instructions, policies, protocols, circulars, retention schedules or other documents to schools in connection with the provision of State Examination results, records of results and result transcripts, including provisional and final results; whether any such documents set out the pur…

186. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the information, guidance or explanations made available by the State Examinations Commission, by her Department or schools to students and parents regarding the purposes for which State Examination results, provisional results and records of results provided to schools may subsequently be retained, used, disclosed, shared or otherwise processed …

348. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Education and Youth to review the 2026 Leaving Certificate biology higher paper concerning a question on genetics (details sup[plied), [47319/26]

354. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Youth for a review of procedures for exam students regarding family bereavements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47372/26]

275. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on a Leaving Certificate query (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46416/26]

277. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she is aware of concerns raised regarding the Leaving Cert higher level mathematics examination, particularly paper one; if she has received correspondence on this matter from a person (details supplied) setting out their concerns; her response to issues raised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46448/26]

74. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Education and Youth the review that has been or will be undertaken by her Department or the State Examinations Commission into the difficulty, structure and fairness of the 2026 Leaving Certificate higher level mathematics papers 1 and 2; if any adjustments to marking schemes or grading processes are being considered in light of concerns raised by students, parents and …

445. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she has been informed of concerns raised by students, parents, teachers or representative bodies regarding the 2026 Leaving Certificate higher level mathematics paper 1; the quality assurance, review and approval procedures which apply to the setting of State examination papers by the State Examinations Commission; whether she has been informe…

446. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether her Department or the State Examinations Commission has received representations regarding the 2026 Leaving Certificate higher level mathematics paper 1; whether she has sought assurances from the State Examinations Commission that any concerns raised will be considered through its established marking, grading and review processes; whether any…

447. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether the Government has been briefed on concerns expressed regarding the 2026 Leaving Certificate higher level mathematics paper 1; whether he is satisfied that the current statutory and governance framework applying to the State Examinations Commission provides sufficient transparency, accountability and oversight in relation to the setting and re…

496. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the estimated cost to abolish Junior and Leaving Certificate exam fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45666/26]

510. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Education and Youth the rationale for the sequencing of the Leaving Certificate appeals process and the CAO offers process in 2026, whereby the provisional date for the release of Leaving Certificate appeal results is 25 September 2026, after the issue and acceptance deadlines for rounds one to four of CAO offers; whether she has assessed the risk that students whose grad…

518. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Education and Youth her views on the recent Leaving Certificate honours maths papers; if she acknowledges that the 25% uplift was introduced to encourage more students to choose honours maths but if papers are exceptionally difficult as reported this year, this will run counter to the reason the uplift was introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matt…

519. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she is aware that in the recent Leaving Certificate biology examination, the exam booklet credits a website (details supplied) for making diagrams for the exam and that this is an AI generation tool for biology questions; her views on students’ assertion that some of the diagrams, notably the one on meiosis and mitosis, were incorrect; if …

737. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Youth the total number of students who sat politics and society as a subject at second level for the Leaving Certificate, each year since its inception, in tabular form. [41486/26]

738. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures that she is taking to promote the uptake of politics and society as a Leaving Certificate subject; the measures in place to promote civic, social and political education at Junior Cycle; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41487/26]

929. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason for the deferral of the revised Leaving Certificate specifications for English and accounting, which were due to be introduced as part of Tranche 2 of the Senior Cycle Redevelopment in the 2026-2027 school year and have now been delayed by at least a year; the revised timeline for their introduction to schools; and if she will make a…

561. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her attention has been drawn to Ukrainian school children due to sit Junior Certificate exams in June (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39327/26]

576. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if any element of the junior certificate cycle or leaving certificate curriculum requires students to have access to a personal laptop outside of school; if project work associated with the revised senior cycle programmes can be fully completed using existing school information technology facilities; and if she will clarify her Department's guidance …

581. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth her assessment of the impact of the revised senior cycle programme, particularly the increased emphasis on continuous project-based assessment across multiple subjects; the way she intends to address concerns that this has created an expectation that students must have access to a personal laptop; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3952…

631. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Youth given that a one-year extension has been granted to the new Leaving Certificate English specification at the request of the State Examinations Commission, if she will consider an extension to Irish, given that according to experts and many Irish language and educational groups a two-year extension would allow full CEFR alignment; and if she will ma…

633. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Youth given that 20% of those sitting the junior certificate in 2025 had an exemption for Irish her views on whether this as a very high rate; if she will consider measures including supports for schools to reduce this figure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40138/26]

639. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures her Department will take to ensure appropriate accommodations for students with dyslexia, dyspraxia and other neurodivergent learning differences during the leaving certificate examinations, particularly for those who require the use of assistive technology; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40178/26]

570. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will review the payment process for State examination fees; the reason the fees are not collected through schools as part of existing school payment systems; the reason parents are required to use a separate SEC portal with separate log-in details; the reason parents are required to manage a process that schools are structurally closer to; and…

443. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth to clarify the anomaly between the fee for Leaving Certificate and the fee charged to repeat the Leaving Certificate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33136/26]