Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the presentation. My first question is about the summer programme. A principal contacted me to say that she was under the impression or she was told that the pupil-teacher ratio for the summer programme would 6:1. On that basis she encouraged four teachers from her staff to sign up to the programme, which they did. Then she got an official notification from the Department stating that the ratio would be 12:1. As a result, two of the teachers who had signed up for the programme will now no longer be able to do it. Will Mr. Tattan comment on that? Was there an official statement from the Department that it would be 6:1, and if that situation changed what was the reason?

I will read a message that was sent out by a school regarding July provision. I want to get the reaction from the Department to the message that parents are getting from schools. It states: "Due to lack of guidance and support from the Department of Education and for health and safety reasons the school has decided not to participate in the summer provision programme". That came from a primary school. I was a primary school principal and when a primary school principal is engaging with the parent body, one's language is very tight. One generally does not use any type of blame, one might say. However, this is quite stark. What reaction would the Department have to such a communication from a school to a parent body?

The third issue is transport for July provision. Certainly, in an urban context it might be easier to access July provision if it is school based, but it is obviously more challenging if one lives further from the facility. However, even in an urban context many people and children have to travel long distances in transport which is often provided but which I understand will not be provided in these circumstances.

I ask the witnesses to respond on those three issues - the pupil-teacher ratio, the statement from the school to the parents and the issue of transport.