Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by echoing what my colleague Senator Lombard said about planning for schools and making sure parents have certainty about where their children will go. It is very important. In addition to what he said, I know that schools in my area are having great difficulty recruiting teachers to do the work. The space is provided and the facilities are there but they cannot get the teachers, with the result that sometimes teachers are diverted out of special educational needs classes to provide education in mainstream classrooms. This is not acceptable. We need to give schools the resources they need to recruit teachers, whatever they might be. I would welcome a debate in which the Minister could set out what her plans are to facilitate this recruitment and make sure schools have what they need.

We owe an enormous debt to people who become community first responders in their area. Community first responders are in place in a number of places. In my area, for example, they are in Dalkey and Shankill. They are there when something happens before an ambulance can get to a person to stabilise them and conduct CPR or whatever other emergency care is needed. They are highly trained and they are in their local area where they live or work. I am happy to say a new CFR team is being launched in Deansgrange, and I acknowledge Kieran Browne and the team who are putting it together. It will be launched later this month. In the middle of this month throughout the country there will be demonstrations on resuscitation and first aid by CFR groups from Dublin, Cork and Tipperary. It is worth acknowledging these people and the work they do. They safeguard communities throughout the country. As I have said, I particularly acknowledge the groups in my area in Dalkey and Shankill and the new group that will be in Deansgrange. It is part of the community spirit that is so important. Without people who do this type of work we would all be much less well off. We know they save lives. It is appropriate to acknowledge the work they do in this regard.