Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. At the outset, I want to welcome the fact that Ireland joined Spain this morning in recognising the state of Palestine. It is nice to have a bit of good news amidst all of the doom and gloom.

To get back to the issue at hand, I want to read from an article published recently in The Echo which states that pupils at Fermoy Educate Together National School are packed into classrooms and lessons are being held in corridors. Under the headline "Children at Cork school taught in hallways as principal pleads for more space" we read that:

A Cork primary school is struggling with a lack of space, leaving vulnerable pupils being taught in corridors and students in cramped classrooms. Fermoy Educate Together National School opened in 2018 in the Community Youth Centre, then moved to their current location, the bottom floor of the old Gaelscoil building the following year. Principal Toni Maguire explained: “Our school has become a place of love, nurture, and acceptance — 62% of our school community has an identified learning need and we strive to provide a school environment which supports all learners. However, we are currently facing a massive crisis, a crisis that the Department of Education has ignored despite many hours of work and proposals from our community.” The school currently comprises four classrooms, a tiny staffroom, and office, she said, and pictures seen by The Echo show students packed into classrooms or being taught in hallways. According to the Department of Education buildings manual, a classroom should be around 80 m2, 'but 5th and 6th class are currently in a room which measures 26 m2,' she said, adding, 'to put it bluntly, the premises are not big enough to fit the children we have. The department agreed to open our school, stating that we could have 104 children on roll; now that we have grown they have thrown out any proposals we have put forward to move. We are a Department of Education school, wedged into the bottom floor of a Department of Education building while there are two floors above which are currently occupied by the ETB - the department has refused to comment on the arrangement that is in place which prevents us from moving into the top floors'. Ms Maguire said, 'My heart breaks for our children who deserve so much better than this,' adding that their additional needs learners are currently being educated in the front hallway of the school. 'Their confidence and self-worth is slowly diminishing as they are on display each day while getting additional support. In addition, our school has been sanctioned an autism class — there is a need for these places in the community and we are the only multi-denominational school within a 40 km radius which would have autism class spaces. However, we cannot open this essential service,' she said.

I have received numerous representations on this matter. I will provide a quote from a grandparent:

My grandson is currently attending Fermoy Educate Together National School in County Cork. The current building housing the school is not fit for purpose. It falls far short of the minimum standards expected in this day and age. Our children are being educated in the corridors and the staff room. They are on show in front of all school visitors and are constantly interrupted during lessons. This is just not acceptable. The Department of Education has put our school in the basement floor of a shared-space building which one must admit was never suitable to cater for 104 children in four mainstream classes, as set out in the divestment agreement. This situation is its responsibility and it is its duty to fix the problem urgently. In addition, the school has been given the go-ahead to open an autism class but due to the complete lack of space, it is unable to go ahead and offer this much-needed class for our family, extended family and the wider community in Fermoy.

I think I did well to get all of that out in four minutes. It shows the chronic lack of engagement and common sense. The school is in an ETB building, cramped on the bottom floor. There is space upstairs. We do not know what the rooms consist of but surely there could be some dialogue to sort this problem out quickly.

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