Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit. Tuigim nach bhfuil an tAire Oideachais agus Scileanna, Teachta Richard Bruton, in ann bheith anseo. Is trua sin mar seans go mbeadh níos mó eolais aige le déileáil leis an gceist seo, ach b'fhéidir go mbeidh an tAire Stáit in ann cuidiú linn leis an gceist. I wish to raise the matter of a school which should have had - and should have - Delivering Equality of Opportunities in Schools, DEIS status. I understand that DEIS is being reviewed at the moment. I guarantee that if the review was concluded and the school had to apply that it would fully comply with every single criterion that it might be required to satisfy. I say this because the school is due to lose a teacher as of next Friday and 5th and 6th classes will have to amalgamate. If the Minister of State or the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton had visited the school they would understand fully the context.

There are a number of reasons to ask the Minister for Education and Skills to intercede in this case to ensure that the teaching post is no longer under threat of being removed on Friday. The Minister should understand that these classrooms are very small rooms. I will return to the size later. The area in which the school is situated and from where the school's cohort of children come, has been identified by drugs task forces and by the DEIS system in the past, as having severe disadvantage. It is in this context that I believe the Minister for Education and Skills would allow the school to retain the teaching post to ensure that the children were not further overcrowded in the classrooms.

The figures are set out in the rules of the Department of Education and Skills but a strict adherence to those figures does nobody any favours unless they take the particular situation into account. I know the Minister of State might suggest that there is an appeals process but I do not believe that the Assumption Girls Primary School in Walkinstown was fully looked at when there were making the decision. I have been to the school on a number of occasions and I have visited recently. I saw for myself how overcrowded classrooms are. The Department's recommendation for the size of a classroom is 76 sq. m. If one visits the classrooms in the Assumption school the classrooms average around 46 sq. m. This means that the decision to remove a teacher will exacerbate an already overcrowded situation. I ask that this be taken into account.

I would also ask the Minister to consider the disadvantaged status of the areas in which the school cohort lives - areas which have a number of DEIS schools within them. The areas, and especially Dublin 8,10 and 12, have been identified by drugs task forces and partnerships as disadvantaged, which is recognised by virtually every Department and that should carry over into schools those children attend. It is not the case in this instance. I appeal to the Minister to reinvestigate this and to reinstate the teacher in the meantime.

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