Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the fact my colleague, Deputy O'Connor, has tabled a similar motion. We both live in the area — I in Raheen and he in Springfield. We are concerned that a school in which many in the area take great pride is under severe pressure and we seek to draw attention to its problems. The matter was raised last night during the debate on class sizes and it mirrors many of the problems facing other schools. The school is located in an area that has changed utterly since the time Deputy O'Connor and I moved in. Many of the houses are rented accommodation so that there is a different type of population and many of the children are international.

At St. Mark's junior school, out of projected enrolment figures of 500 to 530 this year, the international pupil population will be between 170 and 200. At St. Mark's senior school, out of projected enrolment figures of 390 to 420, the international pupil population will be between 120 and 140. That school is unique. I do not know of any other school in a similar situation. The difficulty is that many of the children do not have English as their first language and that creates problems in the classroom. Many classes have more than 30 pupils.

We said last night that for historical reasons the ratio for Traveller children is 14:1, the reason being to encourage them into the education system. Depending on their background, many of the international children have no history of going to school. Many of the fourth class pupils in the senior school have never been to school. Given the large class sizes, that issue adds to the difficulty. The school is located beside a RAPID area. If one looks at the socio-economic make-up of the children and their family backgrounds, it is clear the children come a disadvantaged background, yet the school is not deemed disadvantaged. I am aware the Minister is looking at this issue. What the parents want is action from the Minister.

Is the Department of Education and Science aware of the difficulties being experienced by the principals of the two schools and, if so, what action is being taken? Given that many of the parents of the international children are reliant on social welfare, that creates difficulties. There is no home-school-community liaison officer. Therefore, the school is trying to deal with the avalanche of emotional and psychological challenges that accompany many of these children who come from war zones and so on. There is no interpreter in the school. Clearly the money is not available to both schools to employ an interpreter. The school is failing not only the teachers but the children and their parents and those who live in the area. They are proud of their school and yet they have been left in this situation through no fault of their own.

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