Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

In response to Deputy O'Sullivan's point regarding the use of the term "each child" in preference to "children", I draw her attention to the Interpretation Act where singular means plural and plural means singular. The Parliamentary Counsel is satisfied that it meets the requirements outlined by the Deputy. I accept her point, but it is clear in legal terms, although it may not be clearly written in plain English, that it applies to individual children.

Regarding amendments Nos. 129 to 131, inclusive, section 11(5) provides that a school principal can refuse to accede to a parent's request for a review of the education plan. It is possible that parents would make unreasonable demands on the school and principals must have some protection from that. Section 11(6) safeguards against the school acting unreasonably. These provisions strike a balance and, therefore, I do not deem the amendment necessary.

Regarding the suggestion made by Deputy Enright and Deputy Stanton, I tabled a similar amendment, No. 132, requiring that a decision on whether to accede to a parent's request for a review must be made and communicated to parents within two weeks of the principal receiving the request.

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