Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions. I listened remotely to what were very convincing arguments and all of the witnesses put fairness and equity at the centre of all they said. I was struck by one particular comment, I think from Dr. Doyle, that no child's education should be impacted negatively because of his or her parents. That is 100% correct. The onus is on all of us to ensure that every child has an opportunity to excel in education in their own community.

From from my own experience of as a former teacher I know how important it is for all children that in every school, fee-paying or otherwise, we have a multicultural environment and a diverse classroom in terms of learning how we all deal with the world and our mixed society. Dr. Muldoon made the point that we do not have the correct data.

Obviously, the real issue is that 20% of our schools are over-subscribed. We should not have such a situation but we do and that is where is it at.

We must deal with that 20%, no matter who the cohort is that will not have the opportunity to go their local school. Last week it was suggested, and I agree, that we need to look at the timelines in relation to how parents and young people apply to schools. It was suggested that it needs to be brought forward by at least 12 months so that people are not in a highly pressurised situation 12 months before school starts. I also believe there must be some type of centralised system. Many primary schools work together with a central admissions policy group but that is not happening at second level. It can happen in an ad hocor informal way but it is not happening in a formal way. It is my belief that the Department of Education has a role to play in that and should be doing that.

In Newbridge, where I live, we have a huge problem with over-subscription that has been going on for about three years. It is expected to continue for at least another two years until a new school is built. Following a lot of pressure, agreement has been reached that somebody within the Department will work with the schools on the ground and with public representatives to make sure that every student has a place in secondary school next September. The stress that it is causing for young people and their families is enormous. It is not right and it absolutely should not be happening. We had to push hard to get that from the Department but it is something that should be in place as a matter of course.

If there is over-subscription, what is the fairest way of dealing with it within a school or school community? How should the Department deal with over-subscription to schools in a community? How does it make sure that fairness and equity are at the centre of any solution, but with the understanding that some children are going to lose out somewhere along the line, unfortunately?