This issue comes down to teacher allocation numbers. It is a matter of great concern to parents that Belgrove infant girls' school, which had an intake of 216 in the 2023-24 school year and qualified for nine teachers, is now down to eight teachers based on the 2024-25 intake. The projected number for September is 219, which is above the number at which it qualified for nine teachers previously. This looks like a temporary aberration and the key is to look at a temporary resource allocation so the school can get over this little hump. There is a similar issue in Howth primary school, in the constituency I share with Deputy Heneghan. A class there will go from a pupil-teacher ratio of 18:1 to 35:1 on account of the loss of a teacher, which is also of great concern to parents. I will share the rest of my time with Deputy Heneghan.

Sentiment score: 0.31

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate his acknowledgement that Belgrove has been through an appeals process. I understand it is an independent process. I welcome the statistics on the improvement of class sizes in primary schools. In this instance, however, Belgrove will go backwards for a period because of this aberration in teacher numbers. I think it is a unique case because the school's numbers are clearly going up again this year. They are actually already up but, with the way the system works, the calculation is behind. I encourage the Department to see whether we can find some temporary solution, such as some sort of allocation. The school stands ready to help. As Deputy Heneghan said, the parents are willing, ready and able to help to see whether we can find a solution to this. I appreciate that Scoil Mhuire, the Howth national school, was not raised at the time of the submission of the Topical Issue, but it is probably in a similar situation. Hopefully we can find a solution.

Sentiment score: 0.40