Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to praise teachers, parents and indeed the children themselves who have really reacted positively to going back to back to school in these most difficult times. The happy families that are contacting me are probably best epitomised by a parent of a student who is going to St. Mary's parish primary school, Bryanstown in Drogheda. Last week there was a one-to-one between every parent and the teachers as to what was going to happen this week. The parents, the children and the teachers were very professional, the parents and the children feel safe and there are very clear guidelines. The professionalism of everyone involved is remarkable because this is not just a normal school year with the problems that happen in schools. This is a pandemic year and I want to praise everybody concerned.

There are a couple of points of concern I want to raise. I have a constituent who is a child with special needs and requires resources. The child has been medically assessed as having that need. The Department has turned it down and the child is now in school. Their parents and their medical people advise that that the child needs a full-time SNA and the Department has not given a date yet for that review in the school.

I ask that the unions campaign for and on behalf of children whose appeals have been delayed and whose education, therefore, has been significantly compromised. The happiness of such children and their parents and teachers is severely challenged.

The other issue I will raise relates to schools which have lost teachers. A school in my constituency, Rampark national school, had 180 students on assessment day last year but is now expected to have 170. The school has lost two teachers leading to an unacceptable increase in the number of students in some classes. I ask the unions to articulate the rights of students in these cases, particularly with regard to those with special needs and schools that have lost at least one teacher or, in some cases, two.