Ó toghadh chun an Tí seo mé, bím i gcónaí ag caint faoi oideachas, go háirithe oideachas i mBaile Átha Cliath thuaidh. Mar is eol don Aire Stáit, bím i gcónaí ag labhairt faoi Stapolin Educate Together National School, ETNS, Gaelcholáiste Reachrainn agus Killester Raheny Clontarf, KRC, ETNS. Troidim ar son na scoileanna sin. I am always fighting for education and today I want to raise another school, which is St. Joseph's primary school. This is a small senior boys school which has been failed by how our DEIS and disadvantage supports are being applied. The school has 115 pupils. It has one of the most disadvantaged catchment areas in Dublin's north inner city but it is still classified as DEIS 2 rather than DEIS 1. I have sent representations to the Department because it needs significant supports but it is not getting them. I have been speaking to the principal, who is working tirelessly. He has told me that more than 20% of the pupils are in IPAS or emergency accommodation. These include children in international protection, children from Ukraine, children in emergency accommodation and children living in homelessness. Approximately 25% of the pupils live in the north inner city, an area which is designated as having concentrated disadvantage. The Minister of State is aware of this and we have had discussions on it. Despite this, the school is excluded from North East Inner City Initiative, NEIC, supports and City Connects supports. What makes the situation even worse is that on the same grounds as the school is on there is a secondary school which receives City Connects supports and which has benefited from NEIC funding. Children from the same families, living in the same homes and often facing the same difficulties walk into one building that receives supports and another building that does not. This is the reality. St. Joseph's is also a continuation school for three DEIS 1 primary schools. These are St. Mary's primary school, which is beside it, St. Vincent's infant boys school in the Ballybough and Summerhill area, and St. Laurence O'Toole's school on Sheriff Street. These are all DEIS 1 schools. In practice what is happening is that boys attend one of these schools until first class. A boy could be going to one of these schools with his twin sister. At the age of eight he is transferred to St. Joseph's, which is an all-boys school, and he loses the DEIS 1 supports that his sister is still getting. He is losing the DEIS 1 supports. His younger brothers in the junior school are getting the DEIS 1 supports but the boys who transfer to the more senior school are not. The principal, whom I spoke to today, estimates that fewer than ten pupils of the 160 come from non-DEIS backgrounds. From speaking to Tiarnán Crowe, the principal, and Richie Walsh, the ex-principal and father of Mikey Walsh, I found their passion for education is exemplary. This issue needs to be investigated urgently. The school's intake is huge and it has already been recognised as experiencing high levels of educational disadvantage. Even yesterday, we were speaking about mental health, and we are always speaking about trying to bring up young men. In this case, support for young men from a disadvantaged area is being removed at a critical time in their development. If we are serious about prevention, this is exactly the stage at which we should be strengthening their support. St. Joseph's, the senior school from second class upward, also has an historical junior autism class, but then there is no junior mainstream class in the school for those children to integrate with. This is acknowledged by the Department in emails to me and it is acknowledged by the NCSE as being contrary to the best model it has, yet the school is still being told there is no immediate solution. As a result, the children remain in an unsuitable structure and a small school. The staff in St. Joseph's are exemplary and I urge that this be examined by the Department. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement so far.

Sentiment score: -0.01

I really appreciate the work and I also appreciate the work with Stapolin and everything else in the area, with the Killester, Raheny, Clontarf, KRC, secondary school campaign and Gaelcholáiste Reachrann. In the Minister of State's words, the designation of neighbouring schools as having different DEIS status does not mean that there is no educational disadvantage present in one school. It means that the concentrated levels of educational disadvantage of the two schools are different. From speaking to the Minister and visiting the school, I can see that is not the case. It is the same pupils going through the school and then going to the secondary school. It is in that period between age eight and when they get to secondary school that they are being removed from these supports that we put in place for children in disadvantaged areas. I urge the Minister of State to get the Department to examine this school. I do not know how it slipped through the cracks. I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done and the work of the constituency TD, Deputy Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats, who represents the children attending this school. The children remain in an unsuitable structure. As I have said, the staff in St. Joseph's are excellent but they are going beyond. They are stretched and they are missing that funding. I am asking for an urgent review of St. Joseph's current DEIS status. It makes no sense that the status has been removed for that period for young men, especially with the struggles of life at this time. I also ask for immediate inclusion in the NEIC and City Connect supports as the sisters of children in this school, who are attending a school beside it, in the same catchment and the same area, are getting these supports. It makes no sense that the Department is saying this. I ask for a concrete timeline and solution for appropriate placement in the junior autism class. I appreciate the work the Minister of State has done and his visits to schools in north Dublin. I have seen first-hand the work he has done but I ask him to visit this school to see the current situation. I think it slipped through the cracks of the Department and I urge that it be examined. I am asking the Department not only for a review, but for a clear timeline for the DEIS reclassification. Young men should not have supports removed at such a critical time in their development.

Sentiment score: 0.01