Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators O’Loughlin and Malcolm Byrne for tabling the motion. I commend the families and campaigners who have worked tirelessly to ensure that many children have access to education. This motion is welcome because it lays out the bare fact that, once again, hundreds of young people and families are facing confusion and uncertainty about the availability of school places. We need solutions and an explanation of what the Government is doing to address it. We should not merely acknowledge the problem, which we seem to do every year; rather, we should adequately plan how to address it and prevent it from reoccurring in 12 months.

In that vein, I am surprised that we are here again this year. We know the number and the demographic make-up of children in primary school. This is a situation that should be anticipated and prevented yet, once again, we are faced with a situation where students are forced to travel far and wide to find an appropriate and available school, with some left with no choice other than home tutoring. It is beyond reason that many parents and children who, in some cases, live within metres of a school, are not able to secure a school place for the next school year and that three out of four parents are unable to secure spots at oversubscribed secondary schools.

In Sinn Féin's view, it is deeply worrying that the Government solution to date is to shoehorn students into already oversubscribed schools. Oversubscription of schools naturally equates to increased class sizes and a greater pressure on teachers. On top of this, we know the detrimental impact large class sizes can have on a child’s academic and personal development. We need a co-ordinated plan so that every child has a place in an appropriate-sized class that meets their needs.

Supply no longer meets demand, so capacity needs to be increased. However, this future capacity must be determined on the basis of appropriately projected figures – a determination that we fail to see the Government make accurately. There must not only be an acceleration in the delivery of school capital projects but also an addressing of the delays in current capital school projects as well. Both these solutions require the Government to provide adequate funding, which again sadly appears to be lacking in this motion.

No child should continue to be left behind. No parent should feel that they are fighting an entire system to vindicate their child’s access to basic rights. All families should be certain their child will have the opportunity to reach their full educational potential. Sinn Féin is ready to work with the Government on this issue but we have to act now to prevent further unnecessary stress and hardship for young people and their families.