Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2004
444 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Science the reviews and consultations and the organisations and groups with which she is engaged to reassess or alter the system of selection of persons for third level places on the basis of the leaving certificate results points system; and the system of selection which is involved. [29833/04]
View answerI have not engaged in consultations with organisations or groups to reassess or alter fundamentally the system of selection for third level places on the basis of the leaving certificate points system.
As the Deputy will be aware, my predecessor and the Minister for Health and Children established a working group on undergraduate medical education and training to review the organisation and delivery of medical training and education in Ireland. The group has recently presented interim recommendations for significant reform of the entry mechanism to medical education. Those recommendations include the introduction of a multi-streamed model of entry to medicine, comprising undergraduate and graduate entry methods, with leaving certificate performance no longer the sole selection method for entry at undergraduate level. In that regard, it is proposed that selection for entry to undergraduate medicine should have two stages. Anyone opting for medicine who achieved 450 leaving certificate points would be eligible for consideration, with places to be allocated on the basis of performance in a separate entry test.
Those recommendations are a very welcome attempt to address the tremendous pressures placed on students in the second level system as a result of the extremely high leaving certificate points required for entry to medicine and certain other disciplines. It is important that the significant implementation issues associated with the proposed change are carefully attended to. I am currently considering the composition and terms of reference of an implementation group for that purpose and intend to bring forward proposals on that front shortly.
