Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

People are asking that it be done in a planned and coherent manner as there are all types of sensitivities involved. They are asking that the Minister even signal that he would freeze the September date, which would give them 12 months to prepare. The difficulty is that schools will be pushed to closure as a result of this measure. Some schools are on the edge in this regard. It is also down to demographics. We talk about change in society and we must encourage that. One way of doing that is by keeping the local school open.

See this speech in context