Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I assure him my office contacted his office about a week ago regarding that offer.

We talked about not wanting to pre-empt any future budget negotiations and in parliamentary form that is absolutely fine. However, if I can pre-empt what happens in the absence of schools being adequately resourced and funded, it is that children are left behind. I will also compound that by saying it will not just be all children who will be left behind; it will be the most vulnerable children who are left behind. Some of the schools we are talking about are amazing places. They deal with complex needs that are generational and difficult. School principals are being cut to the bone. The Minister of State spoke about ensuring schools are availing of all available moneys. I can give him a document from St. Laurence O'Toole's and from Rutland National School which demonstrates all their costs coming in, all the money they avail of and all the money going out. I do not want to read it into the record but the Minister of State will clearly see there is a very significant difference between what is coming in and what is going out. Rutland National School in the heart of Dublin 1, in the north inner city, is dealing with all sorts of really complex generational needs. It still provides a sanctuary and it is struggling just to keep the lights on. We have a basic duty here. We can have all the debates we have to have but surely we can agree that children should be able to be taught in an environment that is warm and that the people we task with overseeing that building should not have to, on a day-to-day basis, worry about simply keeping the lights on. If we are neglecting that responsibility, I do not think schools can wait until the start of a budgetary process in the summer where a budget would be delivered in November and the income will be spent next year. By that point, we will have already lost about half a dozen kids within that scenario due to the type of care that needs to be given. We are taking school leaders away so then they have to kind of scrimp, save, beg, borrow, get on to their TDs and get us in to the Dáil just to ask to keep the lights on. How many schools in the country are struggling to keep the lights on? How much do they need and how fast can we get to them? Will the Minister of State please come down to meet some schools in the north inner city? Let us have a conversation and demonstrate the type of urgency that not only the children in the schools in the north inner city deserve, but all kids deserve. There are basic needs that are not being met here.

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