Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

There are two issues here. One is the payment that is made to the patron body of the particular group or organisation such as that made to Catholic or Protestant representative bodies. This Islamic education board indicated that it was the patron body for Muslim schools. The imam withdrew recognition of this group as a patron of Muslim schools. In those circumstances the Department withdrew the funding on the basis that it was not the imam's recognised patron. Those were the circumstances in which this grant was withdrawn. As the Deputy knows, a proper board of management is now in place. The imam has appointed a new board, which has accepted the full recommendations in the whole-school evaluation. The board has advertised for a principal and we are working very closely with it to ensure that the children who attend the school will have a proper education system in place for them.

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