Minister McEntee must address INTO urgent appeals – Darren O’Rourke TD

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education and Youth, Darren O’Rourke TD, has today expressed strong support for the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) as nearly 1,000 educators gather in Galway to highlight the crisis in primary and special education. 

Speaking from Galway, Teachta O’Rourke said:

“The INTO’s Congress this week lays bare the consequences of chronic underinvestment in our schools.

“Teachers are delivering world-class education despite shameful conditions: overcrowded classrooms, a staffing crisis, and children waiting years, or denied entirely, access to special education essential therapies.  The Minister must heed their calls.

“The INTO has set out areas of priority focus, and I fully support them.  The funding crisis, class sizes and staffing, special education and therapeutic supports, and the burden of bureaucratic administration.  These are major challenges for primary schools and must be addressed.

“In addition, the Minister must act on the INTO’s workload survey findings before industrial action becomes inevitable.

“Similarly, the teacher supply crisis requires more than piecemeal solutions.  The Minister’s measures today in relation to permanent posts and induction are welcome.  These are measures that Sinn Féin have long called for.  However, the Minister must recognise that salaries, career progression, and housing must also be addressed to retain staff.

“I welcome the INTO’s ‘Essential Supports for Special Education’ report. Its recommendations, including reduced class sizes, SET allocation reform, and universal design standards, should be implemented in full. Inclusion cannot be a slogan. It requires resources, and the NCSE must listen to frontline educators.

“The INTO’s message is clear – our schools are understaffed, underfunded, and overwhelmed.

“Minister McEntee must respond with decisive action. Sinn Féin stands with teachers in demanding better for our children.”