The Labour Party joins in offering our condolences to Deputies Verona Murphy and Mitchell on the death of their respective fathers.

The issue of staffing levels in our schools is a crisis and we need to have a debate on it this week. A survey released yesterday showed that 800 teaching posts are unfilled in the primary school system. That could be as high as 1,200. I visited a school in west Dublin two weeks ago that is running at 45% capacity, with 14 posts completely unfilled. This disproportionately affects Dublin, children with additional needs and disadvantaged children, all of whom are not a priority for this Government. The Labour Party wants a debate on that this week. We are particularly unimpressed with the responses the Taoiseach gave to this issue earlier in the House.

On the same issue, we desperately need not only a debate but questions and answers on the teacher vacancy catastrophe that is going on in schools the length and breadth of this country. I am concerned about where the priorities of this Government are. I read that there is a memorandum going to Cabinet discouraging parents from buying smartphones for their children in primary school. We do not have teachers to fill classes in these same primary schools so I want to know where the focus of the Government is. I cannot answer the questions when principals are contacting my office asking me how they will staff their classrooms. I would like to have questions and answers with the Minister for Education.