Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. I have the greatest of respect for the staff of the Department but something is very wrong with the analysis here. We have been through this with Educate Together in Galway, where there was a battle to show there was a need. Merlin College in Doughiska is a very good school with 650 pupils. Last year it turned away 70 applicants. This year it opened its admissions for next year and within two weeks it was oversubscribed. As of yesterday it had 135 applications for 120 places and there are still weeks to run on that. I do not understand what analysis has been carried out. This is a school in a city which is the fastest-growing in the country. It is one of five destined to grow more as outlined in the development plan. We know the school is oversubscribed and is struggling gallantly with a range of difficulties, including not having Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, status. It is simply asking for an extension to cope with the numbers. Will the Minister please address that?

See this speech in context