Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again, I understand the issue raised by the Senator, namely, phasing and dealing with it appropriately but I must point out that the phasing arrangement began in 2008, which is nearly ten years ago. It was agreed national policy. A lot of time has been given to this school. Part of the difficulty was that in 2015, St. Thomas's school expanded its provision to cater for leaving certificate students without prior notification to, consultation with or approval of the Department. As the school made a formal request to the Department in April 2017 for additional teaching resources to support this unapproved provision, there is a bit of history here. All involved with the Department and the agencies have been trying to manage this to ensure the best educational outcome for the students in recognition of national policy, which has been phased in over nearly a ten-year period. A decision was made 12 years ago so a lot of time has been given here. A decision was made that it might not be the best outcome for the three students to continue in the leaving certificate year and do their examinations in 2019 in that school setting. That has been communicated and there is ongoing discussion but there has been a genuine effort by the Department, together with Tusla and all the services, to make sure the best outcomes for those students are achieved and to make sure they are given appropriate provision. The Senator needs to look at what has happened over the past year when he talks about phasing. I think he is being a little unfair to suggest there has been no proper phasing or that it has not been approached sensitively. I think it has been approached sensitively and it is now a matter of making the final decision that is best for the students. The Department will do this in conjunction with all the local services.