Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 May 2022
163. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of CAO applications in 2019, 2020 and 2021, that contained errors which could have resulted in students not receiving an offer of a college place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25290/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraUniversities and Institutes of Technology determine their own procedures for admission. The CAO process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf.
Decisions on admissions are made by the Higher Education Institutions who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO and as such information on errors in applications is held by the CAO, not by my Department.
Where the CAO is notified of an error in an application after Round One offers have issued, they update the account information and ask the higher education institutions to consider them for Round Two. The higher education institutions will then do their best to accommodate applicants with offers on Round Two. A portion of the offers that are issued in Round Two every year are to applicants who need to be accommodated after adjustments have been made due to applicant omissions or errors, or administrative errors caused by the higher education institutions or the CAO.
I appreciate that it can be quite upsetting for an applicant to realise their examination information was incorrect, and it is my understanding that every effort is made by the CAO and the higher education institutions to facilitate such applicants in Round Two.
If the issue is not resolved the applicant’s satisfaction, the option to appeal is available. The CAO has an Independent Appeals Commission, to which recourse may be had by applicants who believe that they have been treated unfairly by the CAO, and whose complaints have not been resolved by the CAO. The function of the Appeals Commission is to ensure that the rules are applied fairly.
It is my understanding that the CAO is emailing all applicants this month to ask them to confirm that the details on their application are correct. I encourage all applicants to complete this check and rectify any errors in advance of the offer season beginning.
