Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In acknowledging that the Minister is not present, I find it difficult to accept that it is not a function of the Minister to interfere with the primary staffing appeals board or that the board's decision is final. That approach is a little harsh and begs the question as to why we have Ministers if they cannot intervene in crises that deserve immediate attention.

I ask the Minister of State to make clear to the Minister that the school did not appeal the decision on the basis that it was seeking DEIS status but on the grounds of exceptional accommodation difficulties. This issue, therefore, is one of health and safety. Any member of a trade union working in an ordinary workplace will be aware that guidelines apply to the space in which people work and that this has health and safety implications. According to the rules for national schools, space of 15 sq. ft. should be available to each person in a classroom. Should the class sizes in Assumption girls primary school increase to 32, 30 and 28 pupils per teacher and classroom, the space available to each child will be 5.16 sq. ft. This would breach national school rules. If the Department is prepared to live with breaches of its health and safety rules for children, perhaps we need to raise the matter with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, or appeal to the Ombudsman for Children. I expect circumstances to arise in which children's health and safety is put at risk as a result of a decision taken in the absence of a clear examination of what was asked.

I ask the Minister of State to indicate to the Minister that the school has written to him to find out why its appeal was rejected and why he does not accept that the school has a cast-iron case based on exceptional accommodation difficulties. He should also explain the rationale for his statement that the decision is final and this is the end of the story. That is not good enough. This is the 21st century and children in question who have much to gain and offer are being discriminated against. They are being impacted on by the housing crisis because families are moving out and are being further impacted on by the policies of the Department of Education and Skills which, as I have pointed out, is breaching its own rules.

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