Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Hard cases make bad law. There are cases, however, in which a school is not facilitated by the system in operation.

Scoil Mhuire is in that situation and is not ticking the boxes as far as the Department is concerned. If the school can get additional information, will the Minister reconsider the matter? That is vital. The school is trying to fit the criteria set by the Department rather than it being a situation of the Department looking at the school to see how it is performing. There is no doubt that the number of students in the school means that it is in severe difficulty. That must be addressed and the Minister must find some way to do it. Ultimately, the school will have far more than the proper number of pupils next September, but it will have to be based on the following year to get that dealt with, which is wrong. We need to find some way to develop and expand these particular classes in schools. While it might seem that the school is in a very rural area, it is actually being impacted upon by urban areas and that must be taken into account.

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