Mr. John Curtis:

I reiterate what my colleague, Mr. Irwin, said in response to Deputy Catherine Martin. There should not be a situation in any school where kids are not allowed in because of special needs. We see our schools as hugely inclusive. Every school has to have an admission policy and there must be transparency. If there are issues around inclusion in that respect, they should be looked at. I also make the point in the context of some of the difficulties encountered in gaining places in second level schools in Dublin, or nationally for that matter, that we represent the majority of Catholic schools in the country. In the context of oversubscription, in practice the Catholic faith is not used as a criterion in determining who gets places in a school. We are very glad to say that has not been the practice in our schools. Again, we come back to the issue of oversubscription. There are places in the country where, for a variety of reasons, there is a shortage of places and a number of kids are not getting them. That is the issue that has to be addressed.