Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The running of a school community is no easy task. We are fortunate in Ireland to have incredibly talented, committed and highly educated teaching and management staff who are passionate in their roles as educators. They do so too often in challenging circumstances not of their own making. These are challenging circumstances of the Government's making because successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments have chronically underfunded our schools. The INTO has called for a 20% increase in schools funding and a review of school finances. I recently reviewed the finances with one local school principal. It was apparent that there is a dire need. I was asked to pose the question as to why the ICT grant has not been paid yet this year and where that school's minor works grant is. Once ring-fenced funding is taken into account, each school is left on a shoestring budget of perhaps €20,000 to €30,000 to run the school for the year. How are schools to function on this level of funding? I ask the new Minister of State to examine and seriously consider progressing legislation co-sponsored by my constituency colleague, Deputy Matt Carthy, during the last Dáil that would mandate adequate funding for our schools. We must invest in reducing our class sizes. Over 51,000 primary school children were in classes of more than 30 last year. Overcrowding in classrooms reduces the quality of education, places an undue burden on educators and is, of course, a contributing factor in the recruitment and retention crisis.

The shortage in special schools and special classes is shameful. I acknowledge and welcome the pending opening of the interim special school in Monaghan and that we have 18 additional places we did not have before, but we need to see rapid progression on the opening of a permanent school. We also need rapid progression on the delivery of additional special classes. I hear too often from school principals that they feel they have done the work at their end. They have the space and have done the administration, and view the reason for the delays in getting classes up and running as lying within the Department of the Minister of State.

I also acknowledge the work of our school secretaries, school caretakers, SNAs, bus escorts and bus drivers. They are essential to the functioning of our schools. I appeal to the Minister of State specifically in terms of the secretaries and caretakers. This has been going on too long. Please deliver pay parity to them.

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