Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. I wish to raise a number of points. The first relates to Sir Ernest Shackleton, about whom I have spoken about in these esteemed Houses previously. There are celebrations planned in London and Dublin this weekend for the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton, who was born just outside Kilkea in Athy. He was part of three very famous expeditions to the icy regions of Antarctica, leading two of them. The most famous was on board the ship Endurance. He was one of the most renowned explorers we have ever had and was very much known for his strong leadership qualities. He was the epitome of vision, courage and strong leadership. In Kildare, we are hugely proud of our connection with Shackleton. Thanks to funding we are getting from the Government, we are in the process of developing what is going to be a world-class museum in Athy town in respect of Shackleton. Every year there is a wonderful weekend based around Shackleton and his values and vision. I pay tribute to the Frank Taaffe, the chairperson, to Judith O'Brien and to a really good organisation. Shackleton was awarded the prestigious Polar Medal for all of his expeditions. That medal is in England and is now up for sale. I would really like the Government to purchase it - in order to avoid it disappearing into a private collection - and donate it to the museum in Kildare. It would be a significant purchase.

On the application process for children going to primary and secondary school, I was contacted the other day by the board of management of the national school in Ballymore. The latter is a small town There is only one primary school. There have been a lot of enrolments for next September. There are 16 extra children that the school cannot cater for. The school has the physical capacity but because of the archaic rules the Department of Education applies in relation to how teacher numbers are calculated, going by the previous end of September, the school cannot apply for a new teacher. As a result, 16 children will be left without places. We need to have a debate on the enrolment policies for primary and secondary schools. We have large towns in which there are a number of schools. As is absolutely their right, parents apply to a number of schools. However, we cannot correlate the figures to make sure that we have enough places for all children. We need to have a debate on the matter.