Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations, which are quite stark and paint a dramatic picture. As Ms Dunne said, school leadership is on the brink of collapse. While I have no doubt but that statement is true, it is shocking that the Government has let the crisis develop to this point.

My questions are straightforward. What comes across is the complete level of disconnect between the Department and working teachers and principals, with circulars being received each week without any recognition of the horrendous pressures the principals are already suffering. Do the witnesses have views on why that is the case? How has this level of disconnect arisen? I am sure that were representatives of the Department here, they would tell us that things are not so bad, but I doubt that any of us would believe them. It is frightening that this level of disconnect exists and I seek the witnesses' views on that.

Second, and this might be a harder question, why do the witnesses think the political will to deal with this has been lacking? My children get a fantastic education, and I am always struck by how hard the principals and teachers work. This is such a serious issue. Why has that political will been lacking? When the election is called, whether it is later this year, next year or the year after, we know that tax cuts will dominate the agenda. I cannot understand how anybody could possibly run on tax cutting waffle when we see the crisis the witnesses have just described, the level of underfunding and how reasonable the witnesses' requests are. As has been pointed out, the one day per week has long been in place in the North of Ireland. The witnesses' views on that will be useful. All of us here will probably agree with them but when real politics engages again in September and next year, my fear is that their real concerns will be relegated once again, and they should not be.