Mr. Paul Crone:

There are approximately 1,700 school leaders in Ireland of which our membership comprises just slightly fewer than 1,300. We operate a national executive which is representative of our regions and sectors. In preparation for today, we would have consulted extensively with our executive committee to form an opinion. Equally, as part of our strategic review, which has been ongoing since September, we have consulted widely with our full membership to gain their views on many issues related to education. I would argue I would be hard pushed to find a school whose ethos and mission statement does not promote equality and equality of access to education. On that basis, I would be confident we are representing the school leaders in that we are promoting equality and equality of access.