Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, this is a voluntary scheme. The July provision programme always was voluntary. It depends on demand so once we announce the guidelines on Friday there will be an opportunity for the parents to register with the Department in the first instance. That is the most fundamental part of this proposal. It is a scaled up proposal. It is not based on the July provision programme last year for 10,000 students. We are looking at doubling that. We are looking at the possibility of going a stage further and being more inclusive but the detail of that will be revealed on Friday. The information that everybody will want, particularly the parents, is not just the information on what is available and how to get it but it is also on how they can plan their summer around that. That information will be available on Friday.

See this speech in context