Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

The Department, which has always responded to Ministers and will continue to do so after I am gone, will do what the Minister has directed as authorised by this assembly. I am up for anything that will improve rural Ireland and that will have parents' endorsement. For example, an extended parish or a combination of parishes might want one board of management with a single point of contact and a number of buildings that would constitute the campus of a primary school. For example, there could be a crèche, a junior school - junior and senior infants, first class and second class - and so on. No template is sitting on a shelf in Marlborough Street to be imposed in Kerry or Cork. It would be much better, viable and sustainable if people in the Deputies' parts of Cork and Kerry proposed an initiative that could fit or be adjusted to fit Cavan, Monaghan, and so on.

We want a system that delivers the best educational outcomes for young people attending rural schools in the 21st century. The Deputies know what will work on the ground much better than we do. It is our duty to ensure that schools reach certain quality standards. I am open to any formulation that fits within the framework of primary education.

The value for money report will be published in the next three or four weeks. I have not seen sight of it and cannot pretend that I know what it contains. However, it will be the trigger upon which this discussion can commence.

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