Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I believe the Department and the Deputy are at one in this regard. There is an ambitious and extensive capital investment programme occurring in east Cork at the moment and will be the envy of many areas in the country in respect of the size of the schools I outlined earlier.

In fairness to management and to school principals, they are still working behind closed doors right across the country, including in east Cork, and I am pretty sure that the engagement the Department is having around numbers for September is continuing regardless of whether holidays are ongoing or not. The Minister has made a clear commitment with regard to this September and to the availability of school places.

The Deputy has made some good proposals around a CAO-type system for enrolments that I will bring to the Minister’s attention.

Finally, as I have not dealt with Deputy Stanton in the Chamber since he announced his intention to move to another phase of life, I wish him health and happiness. Hopefully, we will be here for some time yet in this House together but I wish him good luck in the next phase of his life.

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