Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will start with Deputy Kelly’s comments. It is unfair to single out one and say there was no mention of SNAs. The entire roadmap is about three school settings: primary schools; special schools and special units; and post-primary schools. That is made very clear in the document. The overwhelming idea is a safe school community, embracing all the school staff. That is not just teachers, principals and SNAs. It is also caretakers, assistants and others who make the school community tick.

This is a very important milestone for society and we need everybody behind it. We need to keep community transmission of the virus very low. That is the most effective way for us to keep our schools open. It is the single most important national objective in the coming months. Children’s life chances are limited if they are out of school for too long. Particularly for children with special needs, we need to do everything we can to ensure that not only do we reopen the schools but that we keep the schools open for the long haul. That is what the roadmap is trying to provide for. If certain events happen, can we intervene?

There will be additional SNAs; I do not have specific figures. There will also be substitution and supervision for SNAs because I take the Deputy’s point that they are up closer in many respects. Advice from the health authorities is very clear in calling for common sense and balance if a child falls or whatever. The requirement is for 1 m distancing, but sector-specific application and balance will be applied to that.

Primary schools are well used to the minor works grant scheme. This year we have doubled it, which will enable them to reconfigure classrooms. It is not for big extensions. It can relate to plumbing and electrical adjustments. We need more hot water flowing in many schools. Some schools are up to speed and some are not in that regard. I feel school administration will be innovative enough to apply that funding fairly quickly to optimise space in school settings. We need to bear in mind that all of this was worked through with the partners in education, representing SNAs, teachers, management, parents and children. The students’ voice was quite significant this time around during the Covid crisis. We saw it with the assessment issue in respect of the leaving certificate. Those discussions shaped this roadmap, which did not just come from on high, from the Department.

In terms of the advertising and recruitment, some of this is on the ongoing substitution. The pilot projects for substitution in primary schools worked very well. They feel confident that they can roll that out and that it will not be as big an issue at primary level because there is a greater supply of teachers. At post-primary level there will be challenges with certain subjects such as the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, subjects and Irish, and we need to be particularly careful there.

Regarding Deputy McDonald’s points, I have covered the primary substitution. A range of options are open to the Department to try to secure the additional 1,000 post-primary posts. However, that will require a significant reduction in the post-primary pupil-teacher ratio for the first time in a long time.

I did not realise that the allowance that I had as an Opposition leader was payable if one went into government. I have made the point that I see the demarcation line being once I become a member of Government, I cease to benefit from that. That is the way I have applied it.

It is a tight timeframe for teachers and for the school community. From talking to people on the ground, my sense is that everybody wants this to happen and they will work in a co-operative and constructive way to enable this to happen and it is very important that we do so.

I would say to Deputy Boyd Barrett that if they can utilise community buildings or other buildings that are available, that is a decision for the schools. There will be considerable local autonomy here and we will be supportive of the schools in using local solutions to solve their problems. I am not aware of the specific buildings he mentioned, but we can follow up on those.

In response to Deputy Barry, the roadmap provides for how we can assess this year’s fifth year students in the leaving certificate next year. Recommendations on the curriculum will be made to the schools. They cannot change the curriculum. I spoke to the chief inspector, Harold Hislop, last Friday. He is a very solid individual who is very strong on assessment generally. They will not be able to change the curriculum, but they are conscious that different cohorts of students might be at different stages of the curriculum. Some might have a certain aspect of English and geography covered. They have proposed to widen the choices in questions that students will have to face in next year’s leaving certificate to take cognisance of the fact that they missed a number of months from school this year meaning that they may not have all the curriculum covered by the end of the year. They are trying to create some flexibility there and give greater choice. That is work in progress and there will be constant engagement with the schools and particularly the leaving certificate cohort of 2021 to ease any concerns and anxieties students may have in respect of the leaving certificate. It is proposed to have the leaving certificate examined physically next year.

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