The matter I raise is the threatened loss of a teacher for the forthcoming school year in St. Joseph's primary school in East Wall, Dublin. I raised the same matter this time last year. The school was threatened with the loss of a teacher and the campaign to retain the teacher was successful on that occasion. It is a different matter this time because the numbers are 12 short of the figure needed to retain the teacher. It is the same old story of the school not having sufficient numbers at a certain point even though it may have them at a later stage.
The school in question is in a disadvantaged area. It has been unfortunate in not receiving the benefits of the Breaking the Cycle scheme, which it should have. The end result of the loss of the teacher in this case is that classes will be doubled and the remedial teacher will have to take time away from remedial work which is needed in a disadvantaged area. The school will lose a teacher who is happy to stay on at a time when it is unable to employ a resource teacher on a temporary basis and a specialist teacher because no one is interested in taking up a job in a deprived area of the inner city.
The children need all the resources they can get. In an era of considerable Exchequer surpluses, I would have thought a school in a disadvantaged area, which would have easily retained the teacher had it been granted the Breaking the Cycle scheme, would not be threatened with the loss of a teacher. The danger is that, once a teacher is lost and classes must double up, more parents will take their children out of the school and send them to a school with a better pupil-teacher ratio.
Considerable development in the area is on the horizon as part of the docklands development. Property has been bought in the area, not necessarily by people with families. However, with 20% of private development now going to social and affordable housing, this will mean families will move into the area, and we should be prepared for that. Will the Minister of State reassure us the teacher in question will not be lost?