Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Again, we want to be helpful here. It is for that reason we ensured a technical assessment would take place to see if we can find a pathway forward. There was the request to the building officer from Educate Together to engage with the school on the ground. We want to move a step forward. However it is important - and I do not always hear this element being recognised or admitted to in discussions I have heard in other contexts - that there was an agreement in the first instance with the patron on behalf of the school to cap the school numbers at a particular level to suit the accommodation available. That agreement was unequivocal. There was absolute clarity on it. What happened in the intervening time is not the fault of the Department of Education and in the interests of fairness all round, when that matter and the issue pertaining to this school is being discussed, that should also be part of the discussion.

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