Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was very good of the Minister to provide that level of certainty. However, the schools involved might inform him that there is a very clear level of uncertainty. What he stated originally was that during the three years from 2012 onwards they would lose teachers.

The Minister was giving them certainty that was what was going to happen unless their numbers were significantly increasing. I do not know why he has targeted these schools. What has happened is that four-teacher schools have dropped down to having three teachers, three-teachers schools have dropped down to having two teachers and many two-teacher schools, in which category there is a significant number of Protestant and minority faith schools, are in danger of losing their second teacher.

The value for money report is a significant concern in this respect. Why has the Minister been sitting on it for more than a year? Why will he not publish it? Were the measures the Minister has introduced during the past three years part of that report? There is a concern that he has an agenda to try to diminish the resources that are being given to smaller schools to force them into a situation where they have to consider amalgamation. As long as the Minister sits on the report and refuses to publish what is in or to have a discussion on where we are going, the concern in this respect will remain. Can he give us an update on where that report is at and when he will publish it?

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