Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)

Ensuring that every child can achieve their full potential is the ethos that should drive everything we do in terms of education. Economic background, social class, or financial resources should not be impediments to the success of any child in our education system. They say it takes a village to raise a child but it is also true that it takes the full community to educate a child. In mid-April I attended a research report launch for The Sky is the Limit at Corpus Christi National School in the north side of Limerick city. Those who spoke at the launch included teachers, past pupils and support workers from the community. It is a fantastic school. The report shows just how important it is for every school and for every child to have the full support of the wider community. Those engaged with the school embrace the quote, "It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men". This line stuck with me. It encapsulates for me the importance of education and of allowing children to reach their full potential. I would suggest that if possible The Sky is the Limit project could be rolled out in other areas.

Across the city to the south side of Limerick, we have the Le Chéile National School. I appeal to the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, to reach out to the Le Chéile National School. I have raised this in the Dáil on a number of occasions. For a variety of reasons, it has been missed out on all the supports, services and everything. This is a school in the second most deprived area in the State and it probably has the highest number of people with diagnosed and undiagnosed diagnoses.

I want to move on to the issue of school secretaries. These are often the first person a child or a parent will meet on a school day. School caretakers keep the school buildings ready for use. Both roles are crucial to the smooth running of schools. We in Sinn Féin stand with these workers and their union Fórsa in their parity campaign. Their demands are fair and just.

Giving every child the opportunity to reach their full potential must begin with ensuring that we have enough teachers. The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals and the Teachers' Union of Ireland found that 64% of schools have unfilled vacancies, with 20% of schools forced to drop subjects due to the lack of teachers. Last year, an INTO survey of primary and secondary schools revealed almost 1,000 teaching vacancies across the State. With these shortages we had 13,500 unqualified teachers teaching in schools to backfill our teacher shortage. Why do we have such a shortage of educators? The salaries, especially for new teachers, have led many to emigrate as they cannot see how they can build a life in this State with the ongoing and unmanaged housing crisis coupled with the cost-of-living crisis. There are steps the Minister could take to manage the shortfall in educators.

One of most exciting and daunting times in a child's life and educational journey is the transition for primary to secondary school. In Limerick, we have a unique common application system. The system requires sixth class students to list their schools in order of preference. The system is in place for the correct reasons: to avoid the class-based system and selection systems that can arise within the city and has done for generations but which unfortunately does not work for all students. In recent years multitudes of children have received 11 rejection letters from schools. In 2023 there were 20 students in this situation. Can you imagine how deflating it is and how much it would dent a child's confidence to receive 11 rejection letters from the only 11 schools that are available? It is a challenge for parents how to explain to their child why he or she does not have a place yet all their friends do.

I encourage the Minister to review the system and adjust it as necessary so that other Limerick children and their families do not have this stress. There is work to be done in delivering the world-class education system we aspire to.

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