Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for the openness of his response. Is his Department in favour of clustering, that is, administrative principals taking responsibility for a cluster of schools? A figurehead is required to drive and build a consensus at local level. The Department must spearhead such an approach on the ground with the schools in this category, particularly smaller schools.

This debate is not exclusively about threatened closures. It is also about funding and the question of four-teacher and three-teacher schools losing one teacher each. In some circumstances, the threat to withdraw services might lead to parents walking away, which would have consequences in terms of school transport costs and additional classroom requirements.

The concept of an administrative principal running a campus incorporating, for example, a primary school and a secondary school a couple of miles apart is an option. The principal would drive this initiative. The Department needs to send a signal in this regard.

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