Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee today. This is an interesting topic and it benefits from having this lengthy deliberative assessment of it as opposed to just a quick debate in the Dáil where a debate can sometimes be a bit superficial. I have questions for Dr. Muldoon based on what he said. Obviously, there are many parents who want their children to go to the school they went to and, in fairness, there is nothing necessarily wrong with that. Some of the reasons are benign; it can be out of sentiment, affection or nostalgia. However, Dr. Muldoon's point is that he does not look at this from the point of view of that child, parent or grandparent and that he must look at it from the point of view of the abstract child, a child who has been excluded as a result of the rule. Do I take it from what Dr. Muldoon said that he believes there is no legitimate aim for the continuation of this statutory provision?