In March 2001, following an assessment by my Department of enrolment trends at the school referred to by the Deputy, the board of management of the school was informed of the decision to withdraw grant-aid with effect from the end of the current school year. The basis for the decision was that, for the current and previous school year, enrolment had reached only five pupils. In that regard, the rules for national schools provide that grant-aid is not continued to a school at which the enrolment falls below eight pupils for two consecutive school years.
This decision was made on the basis of the information available to my Department at the time, which showed no evidence of potential for a reversal of recent enrolment trends at the school. To date, my Department has received no further correspondence from the school authorities in this regard.
However, in view of recent statements to the effect that the school's enrolment may increase in the coming year, I have asked officials of the planning section of my Department to contact the school authorities to discuss the matter with them.