Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for being in the House today. I am hugely proud of the education system in Ireland, partly due to the fact that there are a lot of educators in my extended family and there is a lot of experience with the educational system.

I welcome that there seems to be a move in the education system away from a pure focus on class sizes towards investing in specialist resources, therapies and teams and concentrating these resources on those students and pupils who need them most. This is greatly welcome from my perspective.

I wish to touch on a few points. The first is DEIS plus. It was good to see the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, out on the northside today. He was very welcome. As he said himself, you cannot beat boots on the ground and going out and seeing what is happening rather than necessarily being in here. This is certainly applicable from my perspective. We visited three schools. I could make those three but I missed the fourth. It was great to have the Minister of State out with us. We touched on DEIS plus in one school. St. Joseph's National School in Bonnybrook in Coolock is one where the teachers work extremely hard with students and parents in what are sometimes very challenging circumstances. DEIS plus is a real opportunity for change and for upping the dial for those schools. It is in the programme for Government and I am delighted to see it there. It will likely have to be piloted. Coolock has had a lot of bad press recently and has featured in the media a lot. Coolock is a great location. There are great families and communities there. I ask that we look at piloting the DEIS plus scheme for those four or five schools that work together in Coolock and Darndale to see if we can make a real difference in the long term for them.

I also wish to mention Marino Institute of Education, MIE, down the other end of the constituency. It is a fantastic institution that has been turning out world-class teachers for a long time. They are teaching not just in Ireland but abroad as well. It is a bit of a hidden and quiet success story in the Irish education system because the institution does not toot its own trumpet the whole time. It just gets on with the job and does its work. MIE needs a long-term home within the Higher Education Authority. I encourage the Minister and the Minister of State to consider that over time we could work together to develop a long-term strategy for where that home for MIE would be so it will be possible for that fantastic institute to continue to turn out those great teachers who educate our young.

The last item I am going to raise is Gaelcholáiste Reachrann. It is located between Stapolin and St. Joseph's National School where we were this morning. It is a fantastic Gaelscoil delivering great education to students as Gaeilge. It has been seeking and waiting for year upon year - some 25 years plus now - for the buildings it really needs and deserves. I know it is a priority because we have discussed it several times. When the time comes, I ask again that the Minister of State will come out and visit the school. I hope we will finally be able to make a decision and give that school the priority it needs so those buildings are built and we can get on with it. Go raibh maith agat.

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