I welcome the opportunity to raise this very serious matter. I regret the Minister for Education and Science is not here as I understand he is out of the country. While I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, for taking the matter, I am disappointed the Minister for Education and Science or a Minister of State at that Department is not here to reply. I am aware the Minister knows about this matter as I heard him speak about it on radio.
When I submitted notice of this matter on Tuesday, the figure as I knew it was 54 children. I understand now that the number of children who have yet to receive a place is 77. They are all boys. In raising this issue, I seek to ensure that the Minister and his Department are in a position to do something about it before it becomes a real crisis for the young people involved. I also seek to ensure that the Department of Education and Science is willing to intervene, if necessary, to provide places for these boys.
The problem is not that there are not enough places in Limerick schools. It appears that a very small number of schools are selective about their intake when schools should in no way cherry pick the children they take in. A difficulty in Limerick is the absence of particular catchment areas. The entire city and parts of the surrounding county form the catchment for its schools. As there is not a problem with girls, it seems to be the case that certain schools are choosing their pupils and, as a result, making it very difficult for other schools to strike a social and academic balance among their students. The Department should be willing to intervene if necessary.
I attended a meeting last Monday night at which it was decided to approach secondary school principals as a group to try to find a solution. While that may well work, I want a commitment from the Minister that his Department will intervene if it does not. Under section 29 of the Education Act parents may appeal if their children do not obtain a place. While the parents concerned have been doing that, Department officials and education welfare officers also have a role. I wish to be assured that the Minister is aware of that and of the possible need for his officials to intervene.
I spoke to a primary school principal today who told me that seven boys in her school have not been placed for September. A school, which took eight boys from her school last year, has taken none this year. I suspect this is an issue in other parts of the country as well as Limerick. There is a need to rationalise the system to provide clarity for people in the primary school sector, particularly parents and children. They should be informed of the way in which to obtain a second level place.
It is not fair that young people should be made to feel they are not wanted. There is a very serious effect on the young boys concerned. Naturally, they feel that this is somehow the result of a failure on their part, when it is not. The failure is on the part of the system. The Minister for Education and Science is ultimately responsible for ensuring that system works for all children. For that reason I would like him to get involved, rather than leave us to solve the issue at local level. While we will obviously do whatever we can, there may well be a need for ministerial intervention this year.
There is a need for a general examination of the manner in which places are allocated at second level. It is not just a problem for Limerick. I saw that parents in north Dublin queued outside certain schools overnight to get places. In some ways, that system looks fairer. At least, the place in which one lives or one's academic ability at primary school is not at issue. It is about one's willingness to sit up all night to wait for a place. While in some ways that is equitable, it is still not the right way to approach this matter.
There is a need for the Department to examine the issue of transferring from primary to secondary level. When she was Minister, Niamh Bhreathnach abolished entrance examinations and this solved part of the cherry picking problem. From my experience, I think this has started again.