The Minister for Education and Science has announced that students from disadvantaged families will no longer have to pay fees for public examinations.
Mr Martin said yesterday that fees for the Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams would "no longer be payable by students who hold a medical card or are dependent on a parent or guardian who is the holder of a medical card".
It is expected that about 40,000 students will benefit from the move. About 34 per cent of the population are covered by medical cards. The fees for next year's exams will be £48 for the Leaving Cert and £45 for the Junior Cert.
Mr Martin said the initiative was "a clear indication of my intention to make the education system more equitable. Not charging fees in the case of those covered by medical cards removes a possible impediment to the objective of maximising participation in second-level education.
"It follows from the Government's stated objective of ensuring equal access and opportunity for all pupils to achieve their educational potential."
The Department of Education will receive an extra £1.6 million in next month's Budget to cover the cost of the concession.
In the past, schools were provided with a fixed amount which they could set against total fees due in order to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In many cash-starved schools the sum was inadequate.
Mr Martin said the new system would be much simpler. The Department would be informing schools shortly of the revised arrangements for fee alleviation, which would come into force next year. The ASTI general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, said it was "a step in the right direction," but stressed that the union had been pressing for years for the scrapping of public exam fees for all students.
The Teachers' Union of Ireland general secretary, Mr Jim Dorney, also welcomed the announcement, but called for the scrapping of all exam fees. "They are a tax on education that very many people can't afford," he said.