Mr. John Curtis:

Broadly speaking, we have been very lucky in the second level sector in that we have a huge amount of diversity within our schools. The important point to remember, which Deputy Burton made, is that it is all about engagement at local level to see what might best fit in that context. The issue of catchment will vary from school to school but, essentially, all schools have communities and they are engaging as best they can with primary schools and primary groups on what might be best for that school in that area. There is a large level of engagement taking place. In the context of catchment, as Deputy Byrne mentioned, it is to allow that autonomy and to ensure that at local level there is that element of subsidiarity whereby it is the board of management that, by and large, knows what might be best for a school. The difficulty we have sometimes around legislation is that it might be too prescriptive and will take away that element of fluidity, common sense or knowledge of the local area that might be needed in the Irish context.