I raise the commitment in the programme for Government to reach a 19:1 student-teacher ratio in our primary schools. In my area, Scoil Maelruain national school was stripped of a teacher because the school was one student short for the coming year. This resulted in four classes being turned into three, with numbers of 29 and 30 students. This flies in the face of the commitment and pushes the class size to the limit. The Tánaiste knows that society and schools have changed. Children and pupils are more transient and not fixed to an area because of the housing crisis, through no fault of their own. This is placing stress on schools as regards class sizes because teachers are allocated for the year based on the rolls on a set day. Another school in my area lost out because Ukrainian families were moved to the west in the middle of September. This is practical stuff. Will the Government consider introducing flexibility in the allocation of teachers beyond the current cut-off of 30 September?

Sentiment score: -0.05