The Minister for Education assured the House that the State examinations in second-level schools would be held.

Dr Woods said contingency plans were ready to be put in place if necessary.

"At this stage, it appears that there will be only a minimal delay in the issuing of the Leaving Certificate results. As far as the Junior Certificate is concerned, it appears that the results may be delayed by three to four weeks."

He added that he did not want to say too much because he wanted the talks with the ASTI to be successful.

The Minister was replying to the Fine Gael spokesman on education, Mr Enda Kenny, who asked if the marking process would operate in the normal way.

Dr Woods said he was hopeful that the talks would succeed because the review body on higher remuneration in the public service had shown that the benchmarking process worked and that it could ensure fair treatment and a comparison with the private sector.

"The PPF, for the first time with such an agreement, includes benchmarking. Concerns were expressed about how it would work and what would be the outcome. However, it appears that it is fair and reasonable as a means of comparison between the public and private sectors."

Replying to the Labour spokeswoman on education, Ms Roisin Shortall, the Minister said he favoured a commission on education and learning for life, which would have a broad and supportive remit. He was developing proposals in that regard.

On maintenance grants, Dr Woods recalled that he had announced late last year he was setting up a special project team to carry out a comprehensive review of every aspect of the issue and other student supports to ensure their relevance to present-day needs.

He said expenditure on student support, including the cost of the free fees initiative, amounted to approximately £250 million in 2000. Some 40 per cent of third-level students qualified for maintenance grants and any proposal that they be brought into line with social welfare payments for the unemployed would give rise to considerable additional costs, estimated to be in the region of £64 million annually.

Dr Woods added that there was provision within the National Development Plan for a third-level access fund, totalling £95 million, to tackle under-representation by students from disadvantaged backgrounds, mature students and those with disabilities.

Mr Kenny said a grant of £49 was ridiculously low in view of the increased cost of living, particularly in the private-rented sector.