Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the main news stories this morning has been the 24 students who have not received school places in Limerick. My heart goes out to those students, their families and their current schools. The common application system was set up in Limerick 17 years ago when it happened that an awful lot of children did not receive school places. It has worked relatively well over the last 17 years but there is the odd year when a glitch happens. A lot of students apply for the same school and there is an over-subscription.

I compliment the Department. Earlier in the week I think about 68 students were set to receive no school place. The Department has started to work through it. I acknowledge the communication from the office of the Minister, Deputy Foley, and from the Department this morning stating that they were aware of the situation. However, this issue needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. For those 24 students, it is not a very pleasant experience to receive no letter of offer. Tomorrow they are going to receive a letter telling them to contact the schools inspector in Tusla. Those children have done nothing. They see that their classmates have received letters of offer. This needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. I ask the Leader to support my call on the Minister and the Department to resolve it as soon as possible.