Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to go over the broad statistical parameters. There are 55 fee-paying schools, comprising 32 Roman Catholic, 20 Protestant, two interdenominational and one Jewish. If ten of those schools were to close, 5,000 students would be affected. The cost for a student in a fee-paying school is €4,500 per year, but €8,000 per year in a non-fee-paying school. There is an immediate jump up there that would be a big dent in the State's finances. The format to date has been the most successful public private partnership in Ireland over the years. To start revisiting, dismantling or weakening it would be a backward step. The constituents feel this, and make their case very well. We should put a brake on this and revisit the fundamental fabric of what is going on here.

One cannot sufficiently emphasise that the facilities of many of these schools are shared throughout the communities with clubs, local communities, sports clubs, swimming pools etc. That is a very important non-measurable advantage for society. If ten schools were to close, there would be a very big impact of at least 1,200 direct employees suffering job losses and maybe a further 1,200 in indirect losses. I ask the Minister to revisit these matters with a very acute mind and multidimensional understanding of the situation. From a political point of view the 25,000 students have 50,000 parents and probably a cohort of 150,000 past pupils who value the schools and would not like to see them damaged or undermined in any way. That is a large population of electorate who will be affected.

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