Ms Áine Lynch:

The Deputy spoke about parents wanting their children to go schools with a good reputation in their local community. However, when we talk to parents we find that choosing the schools they want their child to go to or not go to is a complex issue for parents. The majority of parents will tell us it is a reputational thing and they want their child to go to the best school, as seen academically. However, we also have parents who have other reasons for choosing a particular school. The school may do a lot of sport or look after their child better because it seems to be a caring school or whatever else. We need to make sure, when we are looking at the types of schools that parents are choosing for their children, that all schools can provide all of those things, rather than just looking at an educational reputation piece. When we listen to parents' reasons for choosing a school, they are very complex. In addition, for different children in the same family, there can be different reasons. I just wanted to add that point.