Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply but, unfortunately, it does not convey any assurance to schools under the patronage of minority faiths, schools in Gaeltacht areas or gaelscoileanna. I emphasise that this does not affect only rural schools. I met teachers and members of boards of management of schools in Dublin who are fearful for the future.

I welcome the extension of the appeals mechanism to cover small schools. Can individual school circumstances be taken into account? The uncertainty and doubt about the viability of a number of small schools has not been allayed by the Minister's decision and the detail provided regarding the appeals mechanism. I read the circular on the Department's website last night. It was starkly clear that the increased enrolment necessary next September will pose further difficulties for some schools. That is not the understanding I took from replies the Minister gave to parliamentary questions in the House previously. I instanced a school that needed an enrolment of 49 pupils to have a three teacher complement last September, which will need an enrolment of 53 pupils next September to maintain that complement. It is not easy to increase enrolment by that number in a small area, given that enrolments fluctuate.

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