Seanad debates

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

3:55 pm

Photo of Fidelma Healy EamesFidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If we needed proof of this, I was struck by the report issued last week by UNICEF on the effect of the recession on children, which showed that 170,000 Irish children, our citizens, live in poverty. One must question the Government's priorities in this case.

I take my hat off to Fr. Tony O'Riordan in Moyross who put out a plea to Catholic churches throughout the country to sell any unused gold or chalices they have to fund a teacher in his school. Moyross is one of the most severely disadvantaged places in Ireland. I have supervised teaching practice in the area. I take my hat off to him because he is showing real leadership. This man knows the value of education and has his priorities right. I believe that around the corner is the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. None of this hangs together, but what it does state is that the Government is not listening and does not have its priorities right. I am very disappointed with this because I backed the Government.

Will the Leader bear in mind what I am asking, that we have adequate time for the debate tomorrow on water, because it is about the recession and its impact on the people? Will the Leader also ask the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, why she cannot provide the extra teacher for the school in a severely disadvantaged area in Moyross, County Limerick, which has more than 30 children in junior infants? It is not good education.

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