Ms Áine Lynch:

Administration around admissions is an important issue and we have much work still to do in tightening that up. Ms Fanning alluded to the complications that arise. However, we cannot lose sight of what we are talking about in terms of what is permissible in an admissions policy. They are two very different things. While we might need to do much work around admissions and that issue of multiple applying, and why that even happens, the important point is that we need to make sure that what we allow in admissions policy is equal and fair. Before we even get into who is going to what school and what lists they are on, we have a criteria for people being able to apply for admissions to a school. I refer to the idea that we would have something within that admission policy that sets a tone for our society that allows for some children to have an unfair advantage in terms of getting into some schools over other children who will never reach those criteria. The tone that we set, as a society, and the communication to children and families within communities that they are not allowed into this level of school is a dangerous one for us to continue to set. Admissions administration is a difficult thing that we try to grapple with all the time and we need to continue to make that better but before we get there, we need to ensure we have an admissions policy that is equal and fair to all applying. That is all I wanted to add.