Ms Áine O'Sullivan:

I will follow on from Dr. Redmond’s point by way of response to Senator Flynn. She raised a very valid point on the board of management which is, as we know, the point of oversight and power in many schools. It is enshrined in our deed of trust that there are two parent nominees on all of our boards, one of whom must be a mother. The work we have to do on the ground goes beyond that. It is there in the legislation and in the deed. It is open to all the parents. It is up to the parent body to nominate people to go forward. As Dr. Redmond said earlier, we have not got that right in our schools at second level because, for some reason, parents tend to step away. We have a great deal of work to do to ensure the diverse communities in our schools are reflected on the boards of management. The Senator is absolutely right on that point.