Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputies Mairéad Farrell and Clarke on this motion. We are all aware of the link between poverty and low educational attainment. It is the job of the Government to even out that playing field. Barriers like the high cost of schoolbooks and the cost of uniforms cause hardship and affect a student's ability to learn and a teacher's ability to teach.

St. Catherine's National School, Rush, does not have DEIS status. The only secondary school in the town has DEIS status but the two feeder primary schools do not. This makes no sense. A member of the school community contacted me. She said there are children in the school who are hungry every day, some do not have uniforms and if they do, they are in very poor condition as they have been passed down from siblings, relatives or friends. She said one child came in with his trousers stapled together last week before a staff member got to the shop and got him a new pair. She said the children are at a massive educational disadvantage before they even walk in the door to try to learn and asked how children can learn if they are hungry or the uniforms they are wearing do not fit or are not clean, so their friends will not sit beside them because they are smelly. She said she could go on to list all the school tours they will never go on, the museums they will never get to see because they cannot afford the bus and the popcorn parties they are not getting as treats because she spends so much on bringing in lunches to some children daily that she cannot afford to subsidise treats and trips as well. She said their childhoods are slipping away quickly. Just down the road, Gaelscoil Ros Eo is losing a teacher, which means that class sizes will increase as classes are amalgamated. This is not right in a growing town and I ask the Minister of State to engage with his colleague to examine this serious issue.

It is very welcome that the Government is not opposing our motion but we need to see more action to level the playing field for children. I ask the Government to support our motion. It should not just say that it will not oppose it. It should support the motion and take on board the constructive suggestions that Sinn Féin has made that will make a real difference in the lives of children who have been at a disadvantage since the day they were born. Education is the one thing that changes that. My grandmother always said it is no burden to carry and told me to get as much education as I could but we need to acknowledge that it is not easy for families. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, we need to pull every lever and ensure that every bit of support goes to families.

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