Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, the position of her Department on the recently announced closure of St. Michael's national school in Inchicore. The Minister has asked me to apologise on her behalf for being unable to attend to deal with this matter. She is addressing the Secondary School Management Association conference in Killarney this afternoon.

Reports in the media that the Christian Brothers intend to close St. Michael's primary school at the end of June came as a shock to the Minister. Closing the school at such short notice is a very unusual decision which is understandably very upsetting and distressing for the parents, teachers and pupils involved. The Minister has arranged an early meeting with the Christian Brothers for next week. It would have been expected that the Department of Education and Science would have been afforded the courtesy of being informed of the decision at the earliest opportunity so that it could commence procedures to ensure the pupils concerned would have the certainty of an alternative placement for next September.

The Government has worked very hard to ensure that children from disadvantaged areas and those with special needs get all the extra support they need to reach their full potential at school. We have provided the extra staff needed to make this policy a reality. By next September, there will be 4,000 more primary teachers in our schools than there were in 2002. I acknowledge what has been said by all three Deputies on the particular deprivation many of the children involved will suffer in the course of their lives because of extraneous circumstances.

Schools such as St. Michael's CBS, which serve children from disadvantaged areas and those with special needs, have enjoyed the benefit of the aforementioned policy to the extent that St. Michael's has a pupil-teacher ratio of fewer than ten children to each teacher. This means the school has a very generous staff allocation, which many of the parents have pointed out in media interviews. For the next school year, the school was to have a principal and five other teachers for an enrolment of slightly more than 60 pupils. This is twice the normal staff level that applies in the case of most national schools of similar size. Given this substantially reduced pupil-teacher ratio, it is difficult to accept that the decision to close the school has anything to do with staffing. Even if the school authority feels it has issues regarding staffing, the decision to close it in such an abrupt and unexpected fashion could only lead to the type of reaction seen in recent days. Processes should have been followed regarding the closure of the school and other processes could have been followed to appeal the staffing allocation.

The Department of Education and Science will work closely with the school authorities to see if the closure can be avoided. If that is not possible, the Department will press for at least a phased and orderly closure. A phased and orderly closure and winding down of the school would ensure that there is sufficient time for any necessary and appropriate arrangements to be put in place for existing and potential pupils of the school. If it becomes necessary to seek alternative placements for some of the pupils the early indications are that places are available in some other schools in the area, including in a school in the Christian Brothers network as enrolments in the area have undergone a decline in recent years. The Department of Education and Science will take all necessary steps to ensure adequate provision in the area for the pupils concerned.

As Deputy Ó Snodaigh said, Richmond Barracks is a historic place. It was my grandfather and not my granduncle who went there in the context of the 1916 Rising and, for his trouble, was arrested, put on trial at that place, court-martialled and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Westland Row in my constituency has a Christian Brothers secondary school, which is also under threat. That too is a disadvantaged community. Everybody must put the children from our disadvantaged communities first in our priorities.

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