Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

As I said at the outset, everybody, including the Department of Education and Science, recognises the dramatic changes taking place in Irish society. The Department is particularly conscious of the number of primary school students who will present themselves over the next five to ten years. As I said, the Minister has announced a full review of the criteria and procedures for the recognition of new primary schools in order to take account of the issues put forward by the Senator. The assurance I can give is that the Minister is conscious of the change in circumstances and is reviewing policies in the Department to take account of this.