Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 12 Jul 1990

Vol. 401 No. 6

Written Answers. - State Examination Fees.

Tomás MacGiolla

Question:

196 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Education, in relation to fees charged for entry to State examinations, in respect of (a) the intermediate and (b) leaving certificate, if she will outline the fee charged per candidate for such examinations in each of the years 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990; the amount collected in examination fees in the most recent years for which figures are available; and the maximum amount of examination fees per school which can be waived by the principal in cases of hardship.

Minister for Education (Mrs. O'Rourke)

Details requested on entry fees are as follows:

Year	Intermediate	Leaving
	£	£
1960	0.75	1.00
1970	1.00	1.25
1980	6.00	7.00
1990	33.00	36.00

The total amounts collected in examination fees, including technical schools examinations and group certificate, over the past four years was as follows:

		£m
1986	—	3.37
1987	—	4.12
1988	—	4.55
1989	—	4.87

However, the Deputy will appreciate that the moneys collected in fees represent a small proportion of running the certificate examinations. It is not possible to say what the maximum fee alleviation is in the case of schools as this is related to the grant-in-aid of the purchase of school books.