Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Rabbitte and Madigan, the very best and look forward to working with them.

It has been a traumatic and trying time in the education system. It has been a trying time from the cradle to the grave, really, but from the playschools, the naíonraí, the national schools, secondary schools and third level institutions it has caused angst to the children, the parents, their families, their carers and above all the special needs children. I know we have the July provision. I want to support the motion tonight and thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for putting it down.

We need sensitivity and vitality but above all we need consultation. I know many principals very well but one, in particular, who has been in contact with me every week during the lockdown is Mr. Kevin Langton of Comeragh College, Carrick-on-Suir. They have been trying to deal with the fallout. Mental health was only one of the areas. There were many others, including physical health, you name it. They now have a limited window to get everything in order. While the money is available separately, I know about bureaucracy in the Office of Public Works, OPW, around delivering buildings and architects and such. That is not going to happen.

Community halls throughout the country must be used. They are often supported by the Government but the enablers are the community people who put them there. We must think outside the box. We need to reduce class sizes. We need all those issues resolved. However, my worry now is with Covid-19 and all the money we are spending on class sizes. Teachers have been lobbying as have Ms Nóirín Ní Mhaoldhomhnaigh and many principals to get supports. There are huge stresses on the schools' boards of management, parents' councils, teaching staff and parents. We need those supports but we need to cut out the bureaucracy as well.

I referred to class sizes and the facilities. Some of the buildings are appalling. We were hoping to get rid of the prefabs and now it looks like nothing but prefabs will be bought with this kind of rushed situation. Irish Water is a big issue. Many places cannot connect to increase capacity because Irish Water will not allow it. This is important and I am here to support the Minister. I embrace the new plan. I want to be able to get answers and I want to thank Mr. Derek Newcombe and his new Department for his help.

The Minister, Deputy Foley, has helped me out with the amalgamation of Cahir boys' national school and Our Lady of Mercy Convent girls' school, two wonderful schools that have waiting more than three decades and are still not over the line even though the contract was awarded last November. Delays like that are frustrating. The construction industry is very busy. As I said, we want to work with and support the Minister.

We are waiting for DEIS status for schools in Tipperary town, Fethard and in many places. It is such a wait and drip-feed and it is difficult.

If an Leas-Cheann Comhairle will allow me the indulgence in the nóiméad I have left, a woman is being buried in County Tipperary in the in the morning, bean láidir, álainn agus stairiúil, Mrs. Peg Hanafin, a wonderful woman, God rest her soul. She is up there tonight, definitely, if anyone is. She set up, with a few others, the whole adult education system in Thurles town, Durlas Éile, adjacent to the famed Semple Stadium. She helped so many people, that was her motto. She lived to help people with the arts and worked with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and many other areas. She wrote five books, one of which went to print only last week on Friday. She died on Saturday. She and the Hanafin family gave a tremendous service. She was inspirational in teaching. We have had many visionaries in schools and in the educational realm in the past, including many sisters and clergy who do not get the recognition they deserve, but Peg was, as I said, an institution in her own right and gave support to less well-off people. When people could not get to second or third levels - not even second level at the time - she set this up for them. She set it up so that they could get back into education, do their leaving certificate and get on in life. She maintained friendship with all those people over the decades. Ar dheis Dé go raibh anam dílis Peg Hanafin.

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