Two weeks ago, I raised the crisis facing Sacred Heart Junior National School in Killinarden with the Taoiseach. It was forced to write to the Department of Education saying it would close its doors because it could not pay the bills. It first flagged a shortfall of €26,000 last October. The crisis worsened. The school was in touch with the Department repeatedly but no extra funding was forthcoming. Two weeks ago the Taoiseach said that he believed the issue was resolved. This issue is not resolved. The can has simply been kicked down the road by providing an advance on capitation funding, which means that, yes, the school is open today but the debt will be even worse come September.

Sacred Heart Junior National School is just the canary in the coalmine. The senior school at Sacred Heart faces a funding crisis come September. Last Friday I was contacted by the principal of another school, Holy Spirit Junior Primary School in Greenhills. She said:

The fact of the matter is, we have approx. €8000 in the bank. From this €8000 we are expected to pay €10,000 worth of utility bills, pay a caretaker, a bus escort and cleaner wages, buy resources for students, employ a plumber for a terrible smell on a corridor, not to mention all the other general maintenance costs including in the upkeep of our school building and grounds.

The school states clearly that without adequate financial support from the Department, it is facing "the very real possibility of having to close our doors".

The Taoiseach knows these are not two isolated examples. I know of others in my own constituency. Seven out of ten primary schools nationwide are running deficits. Hundreds are in acute financial distress, and the cause is clear. It was recognised by this Dáil last June, when it passed a motion saying that we have chronic underfunding of our primary schools. These schools have been just about surviving with cost-of-living supports that the Government now appears to be planning to stop. It leaves schools in the situation where they are expected to fundraise for the very basics to keep the schools open. It deepens educational inequality. It puts added stress on school communities. However, the Government is still throwing money at private schools. Last year the Government spent €143 million paying the salaries of teachers in private fee-paying schools and gave them ICT and capital funding grants worth €1.9 million. However, our public primary schools are faced with potential closure because the State refuses to adequately fund them.

Will the Taoiseach and the Government act to enable our primary schools to remain open? Does the Taoiseach accept that advance funding is not a long-term solution to the crisis facing these schools? Will he commit to doubling the capitation grant for primary schools and increasing the minor works grant and ancillary services grant? Finally, will he outline what the new DEIS plus status, which is promised in the programme for Government, will mean? What extra funding will be provided?

First of all, no school should be in that position. I do not believe there was a necessity to write that letter to the parents at that time, to be frank about it. I have a long-time involvement in education. I have a lot of experience with the education world. In the past, any time a school was in difficulty, dialogue opened up with the Department and the Department always came in to help, particularly if a school was in extremis or in difficulty. My understanding is that the Department engaged with Sacred Heart school in December. The Department sought information but did not get any response in terms of the information provision. The Department will continue to engage. The Department was unaware of any letter being sent out to the parents at the time. I would say to schools generally that if they are in really dire circumstances, where they feel the necessity to write to the parents, they should contact the Department.

The capitation grant has increased significantly over the last two years, in particular three years. With the cost-of-living increases, there were very substantial allocations, as well as during Covid-19, in particular, way above the norm.

If we look at the investment in education over the past four years, it has been huge on the current and capital sides and on special education. The DEIS programme was widened and expanded very significantly. It was the largest expansion of DEIS ever, with consequential improved funding, provision of teaching posts and so on. That said, we acknowledge that there have been inflationary pressures on schools because of the crisis that was occasioned by the energy crisis resulting from the Ukraine war and the post-Covid issue in terms of inflation. The Minister and the Department will work with schools that are in difficulty. We will also continue to improve the capitation rates that are paid to schools. There have been other supports as well in terms of other positions within primary schools, specific supports around technology and so forth. Suffice it to say that by any yardstick, the investment in education has increased very significantly in the past number of years, notwithstanding all the pressures people are facing, which I acknowledge.

It is quite incredible that the Taoiseach is blaming a school, which was put in a position by his Government and by the Department of Education, for being in a situation such that the management felt there was no alternative but to say the school will close its doors. It is incredible. The Taoiseach is victim-blaming and gaslighting these principals across the country who likely do not want to be in this position. The Taoiseach says the Department was in touch with the school I mentioned in December and there was no response. What did the Department say? Its financial unit, the FSSU, contacted the principal in December and told her to reach out to her community to help fund the school. That is shameful.

These schools are not charities. Their principals should not be running around having to fundraise based on how much money is in their areas and how large a population is served by their schools. This is a basic public service that the State needs to provide. I have given two examples of schools in just one constituency where the principals are saying they will have no choice, if they do not get more money, but to close. A motion proposed in the Dáil by the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, recognised that there was chronic underfunding of our primary schools. The Taoiseach now seems to be stepping back from that acknowledgement. The answer is not to victim-blame the principals and schools but to provide proper funding for our primary schools so that they are not placed in this situation.

The Deputy has an awful habit of trying to name-call and label people. He does it for political reasons. Sometimes, I question his sincerity in regard to these matters because a letter was sent-----

I am just saying what happened. I am not victim-blaming anybody. I was making a general point. I have been through this before with schools. We help schools when they engage with the Department. It has happened at different times that particular schools have had particular problems.

A letter was sent to the chair of the board on 14 March outlining the importance of the role of the FSSU, that is, the financial support services unit. That unit is there for a reason on behalf of the Department in supporting schools. The Department has engaged with the school since December and has asked the school to provide further information about its financial situation. The note I have says that is still awaited, but the Department may have received it since. We urge the school and the management to engage fully with the Department. It is currently engaging with the unit for this purpose. As the Deputy said, action was taken to deal with the school's immediate cash flow issues. Capitation grant funding due to be paid to the school was advanced. I have no doubt that the Department will be in a position to resolve those issues for the school in a sensible way. That is how to do things. That is all I am simply saying. I am not victim-blaming anybody.

The principals will call the Government out now.

I would make the point that every child attending that primary school now has free schoolbooks, which those children never had before, because the previous Government took really decisive actions to make life better for kids in all schools.

They need a school now.

Hot school meals is another initiative that was taken, but Deputy Murphy ignores all of that and makes assertions of neglect or whatever, which is not the case.