Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

Fudging in certain areas might have got us into some of the current mess, though not all of it. The appeals process that was established to deal with the new budgetary arrangements around small rural schools was effectively put there to assess whether the enrolment in a particular school was trending upwards or downwards. If it could be proven conclusively that the enrolment was trending upwards, the school was essentially allowed to retain the teacher it was due to lose.

If Scoil Inis Meáin could supply us with evidence - it should be straightforward to do so on an island - of its likely enrolments in the coming years, 2012 to 2014, I will undertake to at least examine those numbers and see it they justify retention. We have gone a long way down an independent process, however, over which the Minister has no influence whatsoever. Nonetheless, I will certainly undertake to re-examine the case if that evidence is submitted to the Department.