Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take this opportunity to ask Senator Sherlock to pass on my sympathies to Senator Moynihan regarding the death of her mother.

I wish to raise two issues relating to education. The first is in respect of Ballymahon Vocational School in County Longford and the application for additional temporary accommodation it has submitted. Perhaps a request could be passed on to the Minister for Education to ask for an update on that.

I also have another concern.I worked with principals of the post-primary schools in Longford previously to get additional home-school community liaison co-ordinators to work in the schools and we were quite successful in getting additional posts at the time. Currently, however, two ETBs are sharing a co-ordinator between two post-primary schools, one of which is in Roscommon, with the other in Ballymahon, on a rotating two-day, three-day basis. When this post was granted a number of years ago, both schools had a population of just over 200. Now the schools are at 500 students each, which means that the home-school community liaison staff member is working with over 1,000 pupils in two separate counties and with two ETBs. This is not workable. I want to highlight my concerns in this regard. I have corresponded with the Minister on it but am asking the Acting Leader to also bring it to the Minister's attention.

I compliment Senator Ahearn on taking on the role of Acting Leader today.