Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I know Kerry very well and go there on a regular basis. It is a very beautiful and scenic part of the country and is doing exceptionally well from a tourism perspective. Its employment figures are going in the right direction, as per recent announcements.

To deal with the matter in hand, the Senator will know that the Minister for Education and Skills has outlined the new pupil teacher ratios for small schools. That information is available on the Department's website and I will not rehearse it in the House now. The school to which Senator Daly refers went to the primary staffing appeals board and outlined that its future enrolment would be approximately 93 pupils in September. If the school achieves and maintains an enrolment of 83, it will retain the teacher. The school board has been notified of the decision. The entire process is independent of the Minister and the issue should not have been raised as a Commencement matter because a decision was made some time ago. In that context, I am not too sure why I am here this morning.