Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has asked some questions that I will endeavour to get answers to, namely, how long the survey and the process of reconfiguration will take. On the unmet needs in Dublin 8, I assume it does not take into account whether there is a desire to have multidenominational education or under different patronage. We can find that out. The approach is that, if capacity of any type can be met within any of the existing schools, the Department will favour that route.

I take the Deputy’s point about the other areas not far from Dublin 8 where they have managed to establish multidenominational schools. She mentioned Harold's Cross and other examples. I will ask how those decisions came to be and how recent was the analysis that decided there was no unmet need in Dublin 8. As the Deputy noted, there is a lot of building in the Dublin 8 area. It is becoming a very popular place to live and it is a fantastic area, so we may see the population trending in a certain direction that may require the need to investigate this further. I have taken note of those questions and will take them back.

See this speech in context