Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There is nothing secretive about the manner in which the Department works. I will give two practical examples. First, the production of our area development plans is a public process in which consultation with every interested partner and members of the public is invited. A number of such plans, which determine what schools are needed and where they are needed, have been published. This is a public consultation process which takes place at local level and encourages real and active citizenship. Second, all the new schools being approved are the subject of a public consultation process. They are properly advertised in local areas and there is public involvement. As Deputy Hayes stated, not only are we engaged in bilateral work with school patrons in which we continuously monitor changing circumstances, we also work closely with local authorities, which have public debates by virtue of being full of public representatives.

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