Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he will be aware, there was an oral parliamentary question on this issue a day or two ago. It is important to stress that there was engagement with education partners on this issue and I mentioned that to the Deputy previously. A total of 70% of schools will have a reduction of only about five hours while 67% will maintain the same allocation or receive an increased allocation. Based on feedback from the review we received from education stakeholders, we believe that this is a much fairer and more equitable scheme across the 4,000 schools. A review mechanism is embedded in the system so if schools are not satisfied with their allocation, they can appeal it.

See this speech in context