Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I have embarked on a survey in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Minister for Education, Mr. John O'Dowd, of parents of children at both primary and post-primary level living along a corridor 30 km wide from Derry to Newry with a view to determining the degree of demand for sending children across the Border to school for whatever reason, whether ethos, convenience, catchment area or place of employment. If there is sufficient expression of interest, the objective is that, effective from September 2013, people living, for example, in the Finn Valley can opt to send their children across the Finn river to Cavan or Monaghan, and vice versa. The configuration of the Border tends to follow natural geographical features such as rivers, which does not necessarily correlate with the catchment area of the population. We would then do a reconciliation on a per capita basis between pupils on either side.

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