Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I have a couple of queries for him. On the change, which it is acknowledged in the report will provide a challenge, will training be provided for boards of management and principals to assist them in implementing the changes required of them? The Minister referred in his statement to the schools liaising with parents. Is there a protocol in respect of which schools must liaise with parents or is it up to schools to work this out themselves? How this relationship is formed will be crucial.

The report refers to monetary compensation for divesting patrons and states that this should not be an issue, which I am sure the Minister welcomes, as do we all, although that puzzles me. Perhaps the Minister will clarify if that the case. In terms of the criteria of suitability that the Department has already set out in respect of patronage, obviously this is appropriate now as we are in the transition phase but will those criteria be changed or reviewed as new forms of patronage, of which we have not yet thought, emerge? As a mark of tribute to those who have been patrons of schools for a number of years, is there any likelihood that any of their experiences as patrons can be captured and utilised in the future? These people have gained a huge level of experience down through years. Given we are speaking about having different patrons, I would have thought it important that this experience be captured in some way by the Department.