Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for seeing the importance of this Commencement matter and for allowing it to be discussed. I really appreciate that.

I thank the Minister of State for being here to speak about this national school issue. Keadue National School in County Roscommon is a two-teacher school with a current enrolment of 48 pupils. The pupil enrolment has doubled in the past two years, which is great. The school is, however, now at crisis stage in terms of staffing. The school made an application to the Department of Education under the projected enrolment criteria and was sanctioned a third mainstream teacher in a fixed-term capacity until 27 October. The school is currently two pupils short of the requirement to meet the criteria, as of 30 September.

The school has a number of Ukrainian pupils, some of whom are travelling from the accommodation centre in the Lough Allen Hotel, which is not far down the road from the school. The school has been recently contacted by the centre to advise that further families are coming to the hotel and will be seeking school places for the children in these facilities. Essentially, it is expected that the school will exceed an enrolment of 50 pupils in the coming weeks. The school has the capacity to accommodate a third mainstream class teacher. They have the additional room and they have it ready for use immediately. That is a big bonus.

At present they have 22 children from junior infants to second class in one room, which is four classes in one room - junior infants, senior infants, first class and second class. Then there are 26 pupils from third, fourth, fifth and sixth classes. That is a lot. The classrooms are that of a traditional two-teacher school and they are not large rooms by any standards. The current pupil-teacher numbers pose a serious health and safety concern for staff and pupils.

Among these large numbers in both overcrowded classrooms are a number of children with complex needs who are not able to function on any level because of the sheer volume of pupils in the rooms and the demands imposed on the class teachers to try to cover the curriculum. I have grave concerns for pupil well-being and staff well-being in those conditions, and I am concerned that burnout is a real threat in the school at present.

A number of appeals have been submitted to the primary staffing appeals board in absolute desperation to secure a third permanent mainstream teacher. Projected figures for the years ahead show that the school is continuing to grow rapidly. An application has been made to the local special educational needs organiser, SENO, with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to open an autism spectrum disorder class at the school, such is the level of need within the school at present. The school will probably be pushing an open door with that unit because the Government, the Department and the Minister have been very focused on this.

I appeal to the Minister of State to ensure a third permanent mainstream class teacher is sanctioned at the school as a matter of urgency. I ask him to bring this matter back to the Minister for Education. I hope to speak to the Minister this evening. It is urgent that we have this matter on the floor of the House today. I appreciate the comments the Minister of State will now make on this matter.