I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for selecting this matter. I also thank the Minister for being present to respond to the need for the Minister for Education and Science to intervene, as a matter of urgency, so that children attending Drim national school, Loughrea, County Galway, who have been withdrawn from instruction, can resume their attendance at school and that the parents of these children can have full confidence in the quality of education provided for the infants and junior section of this school. I ask the Minister to consult with all interested parties in this serious situation so that the matter can be resolved satisfactorily.
It was with great reluctance that I brought this matter to the Minister's attention. The children have been out of class for one week. The main problem is that there is no forum whereby the interested parties can be brought together. For that reason it is essential that the Minister act immediately. The board of management has been suspended or displaced. The parents' representative group has also disbanded. The parents of the children involved are frustrated because their children are without instruction, which is very serious. There is no forum at which the point at issue can be resolved unless there is consultation.
The parents did not take their decision lightly. They have shown their commitment to the school in that since last September they have raised £9,000 to contribute towards the refurbishment and extension of that small national rural school. A serious problem lies ahead. If parents who are currently trying to decide which school to send their children to lose confidence in this school, that will lead eventually to its closure.
The schools are closing tomorrow for the Easter holidays. This should give a breathing space to the Department to move with urgency to bring the parties together and resolve the situation in a rational way. None of the parties want to prolong the difficulty because it is the children who will lose and that cannot be allowed to happen. The onus is on the Minister to activate a strong Departmental team to quickly call together the representatives of all the interested groups, and there are many. I understand fully the complexity of such negotiations. However, it is in the interests of everybody, and particularly the children, that that be done quickly.
There is no desire on the part of the parents to engage in a witch hunt or gain a victory. Victory is not on the agenda in this instance. It is in nobody's interests that anybody should be able to say they won or that somebody else lost or was faced down. What is important is that there is no forum and nobody who will take the lead. That is why it is imperative that the Department should take the lead. The Department has a direct involvement and a responsibility to deliver and provide for the education of young children.
What I want from the Minister this evening is a commitment to bring together the people who are directly involved, at a time and place suitable to all parties, and to resolve this serious situation.
