Speaking at tonight’s meeting Cllr Guckian raised the following issues surrounding the Budget 2012 cuts to education

-Investing in education and our youth is crucial to our countries economic recovery.

-47% of the 3,200 primary schools in the state have 5 teachers or fewer so the Governments proposed cuts will have a huge impact on small rural schools.

In Leitrim the protection of our small schools is a critical issue for all of us all, the large numbers that turned out the public meeting in Ballinamore last week confirm the importance of this motion.

Increasing the class sizes in small rural schools and the proposed amalgamation of rural schools, will have enormous impact on our rural communities, our culture and the education of our children and I believe this is just one of the actions of budget 2012 that unfairly targets rural communities.

-Our small schools are at the heart of our rural communities and also play a vital role in fostering Irish identity and supporting minority faiths. They are the link for our GAA clubs and our rural communities.

At a minimum priority should be given to ensuring resources are available for children from disadvantaged areas and those with special needs at an early stage. This is not only important from an equality perspective but also has the potential to deliver considerable cost savings to the State in the long-run.

The Government’s plans to introduce phased staffing cuts in small schools with under 5 teachers is a huge concern

Over the past decade or so, under the FF Government, there was a very substantial increase in the resources provided to small schools both in teacher numbers, teaching support staff and in the physical infrastructure.

These were the right decisions as our local schools are an irreplaceable part of counties life. We should be protecting our small schools as a valued part of our culture.

Research shows, over the past decade, where other countries took the approach of bussing children long distances in order to meet idealised efficiency standards Ireland retained the community school link as a core feature.  We need to continue to retain that link. Our population patterns and population dispersal is very different to that of most European countries.

Research also shows that smaller schools have a greater parental involvement.

I acknowledge that savings must be made in the current climate but I believe that there is a fairer and more economically-strategic way to secure such savings;

Call on Government to- reverse these short-sighted cuts in the interests of promoting equity of access to education and prioritising expenditure in areas likely to be of major benefit to our society and economy in the long-term.

Copy of Questions and replies in the name of Cllr Sinead Guckian

Questions:-

1)       At the February meeting of Leitrim County Council, I will ask the Director of Services if contact has been made with Waterways Ireland to request them to carry out immediate repair on the Quay, at Drumsna. The Shannon’s water level, for the past 3 years, has risen over the quay wall and flooded the land. The concrete paving, where the boat moorings are located, has been severely damaged and eroded, leaving it’s the surface dangerous and unsightly. This work must be carried out prior to the boating tourism season commencing this year.

REPLY: The Quay wall in Drumsna is the responsibility of Waterways Ireland and the issues raised by the Councillor will be raised with WaterWays Ireland as a matter of urgency.

Cllr Guckian welcomes this reply and requests that the work is carried out imediately

2)      At the February meeting of Leitrim County Council, I will ask the County Manager if the Council has any discretion with regard to including The Grange housing estate, Drumsna, on the House Hold Tax exemption list for unfinished estates. The decision of the Government to exclude this unfinished estate from an exemption, giving the estates planning attachment to Oak Meadows, demonstrates further the inequality of the policy being applied.

REPLY: The exemption list was formulated by the Department and the Council has no discretion in this regard. While the planning applications for Oak Meadows and The Grange are related, the estates are seperate estates and would be subject to separate planning enforcement considerations. In addition, the Grange is considered to be substantially complete, (subject to completion of outstanding works to common areas eg wearing course) while Oak Meadows requires significant works to bring it to a substantial level of completion.

Cllr Guckian believes that the Minister needs to address the inequality in policy surrounding this new household tax. It is not acceptable, for example, that residents are expected to replace the bulbs in the public lights in their estate and pay EUR100 Household charge.

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