Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the Labour Party for tabling this motion. It is important as 58 schools have been impacted by the freezing of the process to develop and build schools. Four of the schools are in my constituency. Harold's Cross Educate Together National School, ETNS, Harold's Cross Educate Together Secondary School, ETSS, and Shellybanks ETNS and Sandymount Park ETSS, which are both in Sandymount. I met the staff of the Harold's Cross schools last week. The principals Ruth and in the secondary school, Pádraig Conaty, do fantastic work. I spoke with the third year students who outlined the challenges they face because there is no indoor lunch area and no recreational area. They are surrounded by a building site. It is very loud and there is a lot of dust and dirt. It is certainly not conducive to a developing school. The students must eat at their desks when the weather is bad, and the Irish weather during winter is not great. They spend a lot of their break times in their classrooms. We all know how important PE is to students and yet there is no indoor exercise area at all.

The students knew being on site as the school was developed would not be ideal but they liked the ethos of the school and they were very fond of the teachers and were appreciative of the work the teachers and principal did, so they signed up to the Harold's Cross schools. Parents and students assumed the building would continue but, out of the blue, everything was frozen. They are upset about the uncertainty and that the current conditions in which they are being educated will continue.

It should be also pointed out that delays in school building and school development causes delays for the neurodiverse in the community who are already treated like second-class citizens. They are bussed and taxied out of their communities to school. These delays are adding to the stress caused to children and parents, as highlighted to me by Involve Autism and Neurodiversity – Irishtown, Ringsend and Pearse Street, NIRP. This freezing of the development of schools is a huge worry. The Department must address this as a matter of urgency and unfreeze the funds.

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