Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I find this very interesting. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue. I am my party's spokesperson on higher education so I have an interest in that area but, if we do not get things right at first and second level, we are failing. Some of these figures are quite astounding with regard to the lack of progress. Some progress has been made, however. Today is an opportunity to look at how to progress further and at how we, as a committee, can help in that. Nobody would argue that bringing children and young people from different backgrounds together through the education system represents a positive change for our society and that it helps to promote diversity and respect from a very young age. We all completely buy into that model and see its importance. It is also important to avoid the waste Mr. Osborne spoke about. He stated that £92 million is being wasted as a result of the existing funding model.

I am interested in teasing out the model. Has it been perfected? Have all integrated schools been successful? Will the representatives talk us through that? It was said that is all parent-led. How many children are needed in an area? What happens from there? Have there been any failures in areas where the model has been tried but not been successful or has it been successful across the board? Is there a geographical concentration of integrated schools or are they spread across the board? How is the balance achieved with regard to bringing communities together and ensuring parity of esteem and that everybody feels equally respected in terms of their identity, traditions and so on?