Ms Asiya Al-Tawash:

I reiterate what my colleague has said. We realise there are issues with resources and oversubscription. The same difficulties do not arise with primary schools. Muslim parents put their children into primary schools. Most of those schools are feeder schools into secondary schools. Like every other parent, they have the expectation that their child will go with his or her classmates to a secondary school. Suddenly they face the reality that their child is left out. A number of parents have come to me pointing out that the entire class has gone to a particular school but that their child cannot go.

I understand all the difficulties and I commend all the organisations represented here on their inclusivity. I know of many schools where children are really welcome. However, parents are coming to us saying: "I can't find a secondary school for my child. I have applied for six or seven different schools. I have paid an application fee for a lot of those schools." In the end their choice is minute. The result is that all of our young people end up in a block in the school that is not as oversubscribed or has a more open policy, which is not good for them. It is not particularly good for the school and it is not good for integration into mainstream society.

We have talked about immigrant populations and minority groups. In the two Muslim schools we have, 95% of those children were born in Ireland. They are not immigrants or from minorities; they are Irish children with the same rights as every other Irish child. It is important for us to remember that point.

Regarding sitting at the back of the class, there are schools in Dublin where the Muslim community has provided in Catholic schools opportunities for Muslim children to have religious education. They provide their own teachers who are vetted and go into schools to teach parallel classes. The will is there to work with other groups.