Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The first item I wish to raise is related to the referendum on Friday. The people of Ireland spoke loudly and clearly on Friday when they voted overwhelmingly to repeal the eighth amendment. This ultimately means that the women of Ireland will now have equal access to healthcare in this jurisdiction.

I am very grateful to the Members of the Oireachtas who campaigned for this issue, both during the time of this Government and over the past 35 years. I also thank all the civic society groups which spearheaded this campaign across all walks of life and across the whole country. I thank members of my own party who supported the campaign to repeal, especially my party leader, Deputy Micheál Martin. I welcome the Minister's memo to Cabinet today and commend him on all his hard work. I commend the Government's approval of the memo to initiate the passing of the legislation for the repeal of the eighth amendment and I look forward very much to supporting its speedy passage through this House. We need to be clear on the timetable for the passing of this legislation. It has been pointed out that women across the country will continue to face crisis pregnancies on a daily basis. The need for this legislation to be implemented is crucial to activate the democratic will of the people. This was and is a complex and emotional matter that conjured up very strong emotions on both sides of the debate. I ask those who supported retaining the eighth amendment to accede to the democratic will of the people and facilitate the passing of this legislation through both Houses of the Oireachtas. I believe it is time for them to put aside their conscience and legislate in accordance with the clear will of the Irish people.

The second issue I want to raise concerns the reports that parents of schoolchildren had to spend €46 million last year to make up for shortfalls following funding cuts to capitation grants. That is according to the Catholic Primary School Management Association. Schools across the country have lost €110 million since cuts to capitation grants were first made. Unfortunately, those cuts disproportionately affect schools in disadvantaged areas where parents do not have the means or resources to subsidise Government cuts.

One school in particular in Bluebell, Our Lady of the Wayside national school, which is a DEIS school, is very lucky because it has a dedicated principal in Anne McCluskey. The school was built in the 1960s and, as we can imagine, it remains a 1960s school with very little improvements having been made to it; it has a similar massive fuel bill. The school cannot qualify for Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, grants as it cannot match the funding from its resources. It cannot do insulation work or run the school more efficiently. The school receives an ancillary grant of €16,000 per year to go towards secretarial and caretaker services but that does not go very far. It just about pays for a part-time secretary. Ms McCluskey spends her own time trying to care for the site and the extensive grounds and has done that for the past six years.

This matter was brought to the attention of the House previously yet we see the Government is still slow to move and is failing to invest in schools in disadvantaged areas. That was evident in the Minister's new schools plan in which not one school in the Dublin 8 and 12 areas was included. I ask the Minister to come to the House today to explain the reason he is failing to invest in children who live in disadvantaged areas.