Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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The Minister is very welcome. I wish to raise a few issues. I will speed through them and give the Minister as much time as possible to respond. In my interactions with schools and school principals I find there is a certain exhaustion in the system. The Minister will appreciate that they are working very hard to keep going and keep the schools open. There is an argument for a long Christmas break, perhaps ending school on December 18. I would like to get the reaction to that. I know that a huge amount of work would have to be done on childcare and consultation with education partners. Is the Minister minded to consider an elongated Christmas break, with schools closed for an extra two days over Christmas?

On the topic of SNAs, I would like to ask about the 72-hour requirement. There is a controversial suggestion that SNAs will have to fulfil their requirement for 72 non-contact hours on-site. That is quite questionable practice during a pandemic. Does the Minister have a view on that? I know a letter was sent from the Department to principals last week. Considering the nature of the pandemic it would be strange if SNAs were asked to spend more time on-site than absolutely necessary.

Last week, the Minister said the issue pertaining to the DEIS pupil-teacher ratio, PTR, would be addressed imminently, and she used that phrase again today. Will she move to a situation where any reduction in the PTR would automatically transfer to DEIS schools and that it would not have to come through a separate process?

I would like to get a sense of the expansion of the free books scheme which, in fairness, the Minister has rolled out. There was an announcement that there was potential for 50 schools to benefit and the Minister has doubled that to 102. That is extremely welcome, and something that we support. Is there ambition for a further free book scheme where, after a time, we might mirror what happens in Northern Ireland?

The expansion of second level places in expanding areas is a constituency issue for me. There are caps in newly established second level schools in what I might broadly call the Dublin 13 area, which has had a huge expansion of population and where there is potentially 15,000 of a new population in the area. There is a cap in place on newly established second level schools. Can that be investigated so that second level schools, whether newly established or existing, can expand their places because it is becoming a big pinch point and a problem in the system?