Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I do not know what I could say to a parent of a pupil attending the school in question and who listened to the Minister's reply. It is a pity it does not include the number of schools which are losing three or more teachers in this manner, as that would be useful information to have in this debate. Nevertheless, the school and many like it nationwide are being doubly disadvantaged because they are not allowed to participate in the DEIS programme which has been closed. Consequently, they will lose their legacy posts. While the Minister has made reference to the appeals process, that really is putting off the inevitable and many such schools will be hit very hard. I appeal for a review of this issue. The Minister has stated he will examine the schools mentined and will open up a debate on the issue. However, a review is needed which I hope would solve some of the problems for the school in question.

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