Scoil Maolsheachlanna and St. Monica's, Edenmore are based in the Northside Partnership area which embraces Dublin north east and Dublin north central constituencies. They are part of a disadvantaged area. A survey of the Edenmore parish carried out a few years ago showed that 79 per cent of job seekers in the area did not have a leaving certificate. In a disadvantaged ranking, assessed by the Northside Partnership, the parish ranked 9 out of 10. Against this background the Edenmore-Raheny community have striven hard in the last decade to create vital social and economic development. It has embraced many of the initiatives of the Northside Partnership. It is in this context that I am representing these two fine schools.
St. Malachy's is a boys school with 193 pupils. It is essentially single stream with a joint fourth and fifth class and it has a teaching principal. Last year the school applied for an extra remedial or resource teacher but its application was unsuc cessful. Staff have agreed to reschedule classes to help out with the joint fourth and fifth class and provide extra tuition in Irish, English and Maths.
Many initiatives have been taken by this school to promote the important needs of the area; positive play, shared reading, participation in a substance misuse prevention programme, a partnership in computers project, organisation of arts days, specialist arts classes, discipline incentive schemes, planning and development of school grounds, extension of environmental recycling projects and many more, all of which have been carried out on an extra curricular basis by the outstanding staff of St. Malachy's. Given the numbers of pupils, which breach the Department's guidelines – a second class of 31 pupils and a fourth and fifth class of 30 – there is an urgent need for a resource teacher, a teacher-counsellor or a teacher to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio.
St. Monica's is an infant girls school of 78 pupils with a teaching principal. It has been designated as disadvantaged and has a home-school community liaison scheme and an early start scheme, which was initiated by my colleague, the former Deputy Níamh Bhreathnach. However, despite this, it has not benefited from extra staffing. The school applied for a concessionary teacher last year but was refused. There is a major need for a resource or remedial teacher to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio and to build on the work of the early start scheme.
These are two proud and historic schools who have achieved a great deal in a disadvantaged community and have made huge efforts to better themselves, in conjunction with the Government, the Northside Partnership and local agencies. In both cases, next September each school will need at least one extra member of staff. I urge the Minister and his colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Martin, to look at the proposals they have agreed with the trade union to ascertain if two teachers can be allocated to St. Malachy's and St. Monica's, Edenmore.
