Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As a former teacher, the Minister will be aware that the teachers in the school were very reluctant to move to the point of holding a public meeting. They have been patient and acted in good faith. They waited and waited before drawing public attention to the issues at the school. However, they ran out of patience and have lost much of their trust in the process. It is critical that the timeframe set out by the Minister is met. There was a lot of resistance to the idea of further refurbishment of the prefabs. Teachers had anticipated that there would be a replacement of the prefabs. If Department officials are insisting on that path, perhaps they would liaise with the teachers on the action committee to address the safety concerns they have about the prefabs in order to make matters as workable as possible while they await the new school building. The latter should be as practical as possible in order that the gaps identified by the teachers last night might be addressed.