Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In February 2019, I raised this issue with the then Minister for Education. I highlighted that the common application system in Limerick is unique. It requires sixth class students to list their schools in order of preference from one to 11. Imagine children being told there is no place for them and getting 11 rejection letters. The system is in place for the correct reason of avoiding the class-based selection system that existed in the city.

Unfortunately, it is not working for all students. When I raised this issue in 2019, I was dealing with one distressed child and his family. This year, more than 20 children received rejection letters from all of the schools they had to put on their application forms.

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