Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 6 Feb 1996

Vol. 461 No. 1

Written Answers - Leaving Certificate Examination Fee.

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

160 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education the reason the leaving certificate examination fee is so high being £46 and £125 for repeating the examination; her views on whether this is a disincentive for those who are seeking a second chance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2596/96]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

Examination entry fees are in existence in order to defray in part the cost of running the certificate examinations. Examinations entry fees cover only part of the costs involved. It is expected that about £6 million in fees will be collected in respect of the 1996 examinations but the cost of running the examinations will come to about £14 million.

My Department operates a number of measures in order to alleviate hardship arising from the payment of examination entry fees and to reduce any disincentive for those intending to sit the examinations. In the case of necessitous pupils, the ordinary fee payable may be reduced at the discretion of the school principal and subject to a maximum notified to each school or vocational education committee by my Department. My Department has made £500,000 available to schools and vocational education committees for this purpose in connection with the 1996 examinations. This amount is greater than the amount allocated in 1995 by 25 per cent.

School authorities are advised that, for the purposes of fee alleviation, a necessitous pupil may be defined as a child from a home where genuine hardship exists because of unemployment; prolonged illness of parent; large family with inadequate means; single parent; more than one child from the same family doing the certificate examinations; and other circumstances that would connote a similar degree of domestic financial hardship.

A special entry fee of £125 is payable in respect of a candidate who remains in school with a view to repeating the leaving certificate examination. A course fee of £100 is also payable in respect of such candidates. Where, however, the parent or guardian of a candidate repeating the examination is the holder of a current medical card, the course fee is waived and only the ordinary fee of £46 is payable. I should add that a candidate attending school with a view to repeating the leaving certificate and who was already due to pay a reduced fee arising from possession of a medical card, could have the fee further reduced at the discretion of the school authority under the scheme for the alleviation of examination fees as described above.