Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. My greatest objective is that students across the country are open to this reform and benefit from it. The Minister said she is fully equipping schools. For seven years I was taught in prefabs. That is what happens in local voluntary schools across this country. The Government pays €90 million per year for prefabs.

The Minister referred to business. I taught business studies up to November. In September I took on a cohort of transition year students. I had to tell them I knew nothing about the specification they were going to be doing. I had one training day, a few hours of in-service. How could I possibly ask them to keep on business studies? I did not know the specification; therefore, they definitely were not going to know it. That is the reality on the ground. Will the Minister engage with unions of teachers? She is not engaging with them. Forty thousand of us stood outside schools last year. The Minister has not engaged and is willing to go forward with this rushed reform. She needs to engage with teachers. They are the ones on the ground teaching these subjects.

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