Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

The public representatives of County Kildare were invited to visit some classrooms in order to understand why overcrowding will make the new curriculum impossible to teach. Does the Minister accept the influence this issue will have on the educational outcome of the children concerned? Schools face space problems alongside the challenge of pupil-teacher ratios.

If local authority housing is used as a criterion for disadvantage, are people on housing waiting lists or in private rented accommodation being included? They are often forced to move repeatedly, which is not in the interest of children. For financial reasons, local authority housing lists would seem obvious criteria.

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