School Staff
Dail Éireann — 2021-05-13
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Richard O'Donoghue (IND), Limerick County

Another school in my constituency has said it will be practically impossible for it to open in September as a junior class has 28 children and it is impossible for them to be in pods. It is losing a teacher in its appeal, which was also turned down. Under any circumstances, is it possible to have 38 students, two SNAs and a teacher in one classroom? That is 41 people in one room. It was turned down just because the process says "No". Is the Minister satisfied there will be 38 unvaccinated students, an unvaccinated teacher and two unvaccinated SNAs in a single room? What exactly are we doing here? The process is that where a school loses or gains a teacher, it will not get that teacher until 12 months later. In the case of Ballingarry National School, it has the pupil numbers but it now has to do without a teacher until September 2022 because the process does not allow for it. These are exceptional circumstances.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:16+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-05-13