Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure which motion the Minister has read because the Sinn Féin motion does not call for a roadmap. It calls for the reduction of class sizes in line with the European average of 20:1, which she failed to address. She did not use any of her ten minutes to acknowledge that, at primary level, we have the highest class sizes in Europe. Nor did she acknowledge the fact that one in five of our children is in classes of more than 30 pupils and this makes the challenge of returning to school in a safe way all the more challenging for our boards of management, teachers and principals, who will have to see how they can work within the guidelines to ensure what all of us want, which is that children go back to school in late August and September. The reality is that class size in this State is a shameful indictment of successive Governments in relation to the lack of funding and support for primary education. Instead of calling on the House to reject this motion, this was an opportunity for the Minister to commit to dealing with the fact that we have class sizes that are way above what we should have. Does the Minister believe it is appropriate or right that one in five children in Donegal or, on average, across the State is in classes of more than 30 children and that we have some children in classes as big as 35?

Last year, we learned that there were a number of children who were in classes above 40 in number. That is the legacy we are faced with and this is an opportunity to address it, as set out in the Sinn Féin motion.

I welcome the publication of the plan to get our schools reopened in late August or September. However, I am concerned that it is late in the day and I believe the Minister has placed a huge challenge and task on boards of management, teachers and principals to deliver on it. I have no doubt they will move heaven and earth to get their schools equipped and ready in time. My big concern relates to substitute teachers. I say this because the Minister has announced no reduction in class sizes at primary level but is instead proposing to establish supply panels with a total of 200 teachers. These are not additional teachers to go into schools but will be replacing existing vacancies. This is something I welcome and which the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, was calling for before the pandemic. The problem is that 3,500 substitute teachers, on average, go into our primary schools every single day. As our spokesperson, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, pointed out, 500 vacancies in primary schools cannot be filled by substitute teachers because the numbers are not there. The supply panels of 200 teachers are not going to cut it, particularly given that those teachers will not be able to present at school with a head cold, a runny nose and so on because of infection control measures. I am very concerned that the whole system could unravel.

As someone who comes from a Gaeltacht area, the fact that there is no Gaeltacht supply panel is a huge missed opportunity which needs to be rectified. There are three supply panels indicated for Donegal but none at all serving the Gaeltacht area. This issue is not unique to my county and it must be dealt with wherever it arises throughout the State.

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