John Whelan (Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for his fair answer. I am aware that in his constituency the Minister of State is encountering these types of situation personally. I am not seeking to break the rules but I earnestly request that the Minister consider situations where children are already attending a certain school and a sibling wishes to attend the same school. It will not break the bank or lead to a long-term problem to factor that in as a consideration. As the Minister said, it will work its way out through the system in due course without damaging the genuine objective of establishing a cost effective and transparent system that is applied equitably across the country.