James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I hope the Minister will take on board my concerns and commit to restoring essential staff at St Mary's and providing urgently needed improvements to the built environment by way of urgently needed permanent accommodation.

With regard to the designation of St. Mary's as a rural rather than urban school, the classification of schools was supposed to be reviewed in 2009. This did not happen. When will it happen?

St. Mary's has pupils from 15 different nationalities and provides value for money for children under its care. Conscious that all children have only one childhood, I draw attention to the need for financial support from the Department to carry out necessary upgrading and maintain teacher numbers. It is vital that funding be provided. Perhaps the Minister will make a commitment in this regard. I dispute his figures because I was speaking to the principal, Helen O'Gorman, this morning.

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