Tánaiste Micheál Martin was reminded of the realities of the housing crisis on the campaign trail today.
The Fianna Fáil leader visited St. James’ Primary School in The Liberties in Dublin, while canvassing this afternoon.
It comes a day after the launch of Fianna Fáil’s election manifesto - which promises to reduce class sizes, with a target of one teacher for every 19 students.
The teachers at St. James’ told him about the challenges they’re facing, with a “huge amount” of their pupils living in hotels.
“Not having a stable home, coming in from crowded places, families with children sleep deprivation, and they're still coming to school, because this is the only stability that they have,” one teacher said.
“The kids come in, they know that they're well cared for, well looked after, getting the supports they need.
“But outside of that, like luckily for school completion, even to have that system in place whereby we have trained therapists to be able to support these children with the trauma that they're experiencing in their very young lives.”
More general election campaign coverage to come…
Micheál Martin at a launch of the Fianna Fáil manifesto. 11/11/2024 Photo: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie
