Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

The Minister for Education and Skills made his decision in the absence of a report that would describe the outcome. To say this is not political is to hoodwink everyone because a Labour Party Minister made a political decision without reference to the findings of the aforementioned report. Why would a Minister ask principals to spend hours of their time compiling statistics for a report which he did not bother to consult when making a decision that will affect 47% of the primary schools in this State? It is a retrograde step which the anecdotal figures suggest will save €15 million per annum.

This raises questions about the promises that were made prior to the election by the parties now in government. Senators can blame whatever Government they want but when Fianna Fáil entered power in 1997, it reduced the retention figures for small schools from 24 to 12. Small schools were protected and investments were made in education.