Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In 1968 John Healy wrote a book called "No-one Shouted Stop: Death of an Irish Town" about his home town of Charlestown, County Mayo. He was lamenting the fact that rural Ireland was dying on its feet. In recent years we have seen 100 banks, around 214 post offices and 1,290 pubs in rural Ireland close. However, what affects rural Ireland more than any of that is the loss of schools and the loss of teachers in rural schools. The previous Minister for Education and Skills stated quite clearly that two-teacher and three-teacher schools should consider their future and consider amalgamation. If a community or parish loses its school, no more houses are built and no more families move into the area. Then one sees the fruition of what John Healy wrote about in 1968, namely, the death of Irish parishes, towns and communities.

The case I raise today is that of a school in west Kerry in a Gaeltacht area. The loss of a teacher and the subsequent loss of resources will mean that schools in the area will be forced to amalgamate. As a result, we will see the very embodiment of what John Healy wrote about in 1968, namely, schools amalgamating and communities dying.

I ask that the Minister for Education and Skills would review the case of the school in west Kerry which is due to lose a teacher and to consider the impact that will have on both the school and the wider community. I ask if there is any possibility that this decision will be reversed.