Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chair for allowing me to contribute on this question. These processes are being set up to fail. Two processes in my constituency have failed because, even though the Minister promised that the parents of potential pupils in the areas around the schools would be consulted, that did not happen. The archdiocese can press all the buttons it wants and then get what it wants, which is the status quo. In a ridiculous situation, someone whose child is in sixth class has more of a say in the future of the school than someone living locally who has preschool infants. Indeed, the latter has no say. The status quoremains as a result. I still do not have the report into what happened in Raheny. I understand that a similar process happened in Edenmore.

These processes are being set up to fail, not by the Minister, but by those with a vested interested in preserving the status quo. It is ridiculous that someone living in an area who has a one-year-old or a three-year-old has no say in the future of the local primary school when someone whose kid is leaving the school in two months’ time has all the say.

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