Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate her being here and, hopefully, taking those comments back to the Minister. In addition to the general appeals system, I ask that special consideration be given this year, in a blanket way, to all schools. Clouna National School, close to Ennistymon, is going from three teachers to two under the staffing schedule. The children in Clouna and many other schools dotted around the country have suffered so much. I appeal to the Minister of State and the Government to give serious attention to the retention of the status quowith regard to number of teachers, notwithstanding the fact that some schools have dropped below the retention level, as a special measure in response to the Covid crisis and due to the fact children have been out of school for so long. They need every possible intervention to catch up and that is more difficult in smaller rural schools. I thank the Minister of State for her consideration and I hope that is something the Government can consider in time.