I wish to raise an issue that affects that town that I come from, namely, Naas. It is to do with St. Corban's National School. Earlier this year, following engagement with the Department of education, the school was encouraged to open a third junior infant class. On that basis, 25 additional students were enrolled for this coming September. Parents accepted these places in good faith, believing that the necessary teaching resources that were promised would follow.

Now, just weeks before the new term begins, the Department has refused to allocate the additional teacher. It is not because the school failed to act. For four months, the principal, the board of management, the parents and the school's patron have all engaged and pursued every possible avenue, including an appeal to the primary staffing appeals board. They had a meeting with the Department's assistant secretary general. Every option has been exhausted but the request has been refused because of a technical staffing rule. The result is that one junior infant class in St. Corban's in Naas will have almost 40 children. These are four- and five-year-olds taking their first steps into education. We cannot say that we are committed to giving every child the best possible start in life when giving a pupil to teacher ratio of 1:40.

I acknowledge the professionalism of the principal, John Drewett, his staff and the board of management. They have gone out of their way and done everything possible to appease the situation and to manage an impossible situation. They have been clear that this is not an acceptable long-term solution. Sometimes common sense must take precedence over bureaucracy. I ask the Acting Leader to ask the Minister for education to urgently revisit this decision before the school year begins. These families acted in good faith. They had a promise and they acted on that. I sincerely hope that the Minister will do the right thing regarding St. Corban's.