Mary welcomes the update on Leaving Certificate exam papers recently published with details of changes to the papers.
These changes are intended to relieve the pressure on students given the disruption they have faced with school closures and missed class time. While the duration of each exam remains unchanged, there will be a greater choice of questions and a reduction in the number of questions to be answered. These adjustments apply to the written examinations only and there is no change to oral, aural, coursework or performance tests.
A 65 page document was published by the SEC and is available here

Protection of Retail Workers Bill
In April 2025 Mary introduced the Protection of Retail Workers Act 2025, a Bill aimed at amending the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 to create specific offences for assaulting, threatening, harassing, or abusing retail workers while they are carrying out their employment. Retail workers across Ireland are on the