Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)

The first topic that is absolutely urgent is special needs. I think everybody here will agree about the desperation on the part of parents who still do not have school places for autistic, neurodivergent or disabled children. The Minister said there will be 400 new classes. Will that cover all of the demand? That is the issue. Will they be open by September?

I will give the example of Danu Community Special School in Dublin 15. I have raised it in the Dáil several times, as have other TDs. Children who were promised school places last September still do not have them. Some of them are at home with their parents and it is causing the parents a lot of distress because the children are acting up. Others are in preschool for an extra year, so some of those students will be seven. Will that school building be open? In addition, sanctioned and announced classes are not opened classes, which is a key problem.

I am glad the Minister mentioned post-primary schools and said that her aim is there will be four special classes in each urban post-primary school. Having taught in post-primary during the pandemic and before that, there is not really provision for students who have additional needs.

I finish on that topic by asking the proportion of schools that have not opened any autism or special education classes. Are there are some that are consistent offenders?

I will move on. I have an awful lot because it is the first meeting.

The Minister mentioned school transport. I want to alert her to school transport problems in urban areas and suburbs. For example, there are 11 parents in Tyrrelstown, which is a suburb in Dublin West, who could not get into their local school because there were not enough places, so they had to go a school in Ongar, which is approximately 9 km away. There are no connecting buses between those two areas. They could not get Bus Éireann to give them special transport. They were told they did not qualify. They are left carpooling their children. They cannot continue to do that because many of them do not have cars. What can the Minister do about that situation in urban and suburban areas? I reiterate that in growing areas like Dublin West, closing down a school like Ériu Community College and moving it is not acceptable.

I have to move on to teacher retention. I have taken a huge interest in this in the past few years. We had a campaign in our area a number of years ago because so many subjects were being dropped from secondary schools, particularly practical subjects, but we know there is a teacher shortage in every single subject. The Minister said there are more teachers, but there are also more pupils. Even though there is a 20% increase in intake of student teachers, the problem is that they are emigrating as soon as they can or they are staying in rural areas. There is a shortage everywhere but particularly in more expensive housing areas. The Minister has to consider introducing something special on this. As a secondary teacher, I have seen it myself. Many subjects were dropped in our school when I was there when people retired. I mentioned in the Dáil previously that Britain has the teach first programme and bursaries. They are attracting Irish students. I know two students from this country who will be doing their teaching training in Britain because of this. They are getting paid; why would they not go? The Minister will have to look at introducing a city allowance. There is absolutely no other way. Before she says we need equality, there are allowances of all sorts. There is the Gaeltacht allowance, island allowance and all sorts, but there is no allowance for living in an expensive area. There should be a special education allowance as well. Teachers cannot be attracted. Even if Danu opens, it will have difficulty recruiting the two teachers it needs.

Finally, I mention school buildings and particularly older schools such as the likes of Coolmine Community School, which I believe is the oldest community school in the country. Buckets in a school is not acceptable in 2025. It is not acceptable for students and teachers to be walking around with buckets. Yet, that school was refused a grant. That has to be addressed.

Leaving certificate reform is a topic the committee should return to. The ASTI, which is the biggest secondary teacher union, has just rejected the Minister’s proposal on leaving certificate reform, and I talked to a couple of teachers about why. The main issue was that the Minister was not really introducing reform. She was introducing extra journals and diaries, and she knows perfectly well that it is hard for teachers to assess whether the students have done that work themselves or whether they have used AI. Surveys have shown that people could not detect the difference. This is a whole new area that this committee will have to have a session on. The Minister just ramming it down teachers’ throats and telling them to get on with it is not going to work. That vote came from the grassroots. It did not come from the executive or the union leaders. Therefore, it reflects how teachers feel they are not getting the resources or the support. The leaving certificate, as we know, is extremely stressful, but we want to at least keep it somewhat independent.