Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I invite the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, to visit this school in Balrothery in my constituency, which is also that of the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, to see at first hand that school, those children and the teachers in that school. If those children were not in that school, there would be nowhere else for them because many of them attempted to go to other schools but could not find a place because of the mainstream situation there. These children have nowhere else to go.

The NCSE originally proposed that 60% of the teacher and SNA provision in that school would be lost by September next. I put it to the Minister that that makes that school unviable. I put it him that there is no way the school can function with such a loss of personnel.

The community I represent, which the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, represents along with Deputies Rabbitte and O'Connor, wants to know whether the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, will intervene directly to stop the loss of four further SNAs on 12 April.

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