Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)

I will address three points in response. I will come to a broader point, but the first is that if there are specific schools, the FSSU on behalf of the Department plays a crucial role in seeing where there are funding gaps. In order for the Department to assess the current financial situation, the school needs to engage with the FSSU for the purpose. The Department will refer this school to the FSSU once confirmation of the situation is confirmed. If you have an individual school in your constituency facing specific needs that is where the FSSU can work in tandem with the Department. That is the first specific point. However, when a principal goes to you, they will thank you for that but say it is not going to solve their issue in the next 24 to 48 hours, and you should talk about that.

Another area relates to the need to look at the overall economic model. The Deputy is right. There is no way I can disagree with that. If we are looking at a model based on a 1960s parameter, it is of course time to review or refresh that 60 years on. I am more than happy to make that argument to the Minister on the Deputy's behalf. However, the final point relates to the administrative costs of running schools at primary level. Never mind the 1960s, the administrative costs compared with six years ago are completely unrecognisable. The wonderful advances in special education provision, free hot meals provision and the extra ability for schools to do more comes with a greater cost. It comes with a greater cost, but those costs are not being matched. Those costs and responsibilities are falling on the shoulders of principals, many of them teaching principals. We regularly get questions from constituents as to why their child does not have free hot school meals. It is either due to space or capacity with staff. That is an area that needs review, and I would be more than happy to work with the Deputy to ensure that review is forthcoming and works to the betterment of all our schools.

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