Vol. 514 No. 2
127 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of students at junior and leaving certificates levels who applied for special consideration in each of the past five years; the number to whom special consideration was granted; and the criteria or forms of appraisal which were used to select those granted special consideration. [3794/00]
As a general guide for the Deputy the number of applications has grown from 2,300 in 1994 to over 3,000 in recent years.
Each case is considered on an individual basis within the terms of the scheme. An applicant may be granted some or all of the arrangements sought. In some instances my Department will suggest an alternative to what is sought as a more appropriate response to the applicant's needs and consequently composite records of refusals as such are not maintained. An applicant who is dissatisfied with what is proposed or whose application is rejected may appeal to an appeal group and I can tell the Deputy that the number of appeals received annually is less than 30.
Accordingly, the precise information requested by the Deputy is not readily available from my Department in the format sought.
