Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Respectfully, it is not my narrative. It is what the principals are telling us, and it is really important that we listen to it. They spoke about the things the Tánaiste just referenced, for example, the hot school meals programme and how welcome that is. However, one principal gave an example of a contract for the hot school meals programme costing €160,000, which is more than the school received for all the other costs it is covering. While schools welcome the programme, they cannot pay for basic things like cleaning the school so they do not feel the funding has been allocated to the right places. They make a very valid point.

I recognise the increase in the funding for DEIS schools but principals are saying that funding is being swallowed up because they cannot fundraise in the same way that other schools are able to. It is therefore not meeting the extra needs that DEIS schools have. While they really welcome the book scheme, they are telling us loudly and clearly that it is not covering the cost of books. It is great that there has been an increase in special education teaching hours but the crucial point is that people are not getting the special education teaching hours they need. That is the key takeaway and it needs to be addressed.

Primary schools are the epicentre of every single community and therefore every single crisis. The housing crisis means that people cannot afford to live and rent in Dublin. There are these different issues and when they affect other State agencies, they wait-list and backlog, but schools cannot and will not do that. This needs to be addressed urgently.

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