Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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As the Deputy will be aware, a value for money review was initiated in October 2010 by the then Fianna Fáil/Green Party government in order to establish the value for money being achieved from state funding of small primary schools. This review is part of the normal review processes undertaken by Departments on an annual basis on selected areas of expenditure. I have no predetermined view on the outcome of the review. Educational quality for the pupils must be one of the main criteria in any consideration of primary school size and organisation, taking into account both the needs of local communities and wider social and cultural factors. The review should be completed by the end of this year and I plan to consider the review's conclusions when it is finalised.

The Deputy refers to the changes to the school transport scheme which were announced by the previous Minister and are due to be implemented with effect from September next. The changes to the school transport scheme are an entirely separate matter to the review of the small schools and were designed in order to achieve necessary savings in school transport with minimum impact to service beneficiaries. In considering any policy change in relation to small schools, I am conscious that there are many issues to be taken into account. Among these issues are the locations of small schools relative to each other and to other schools of a similar type and the question of travel distances and transport costs. I can assure the Deputy I will be taking all these matters into account when considering the outcome of the review.