*Cathal Crowe TD (FF). Photograph: John Mangan
CLARE TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) has been appointed Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth.
Deputy Crowe received the call from Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) on Thursday afternoon to inform him of his appointment. The Meelick native served on the committee during his first-term in the Dáil.
In a statement to The Clare Echo, Deputy Crowe said he would utilise his fourteen years experience as a primary school teacher at Parteen National School and his time as Assistant Principal for his new role.
He said, “I’m a graduate of Mary Immaculate College and the University of Limerick and I hope to be a strong voice for children in education and also for those who work in the sector, including principals, teachers, special needs assistants and secretaries.
“In recent years, the Government has put a major emphasis on inclusive education, specifically that children with additional needs can have those needs met in their local area, and ideally by their local school. Much work needs to be done in this area and hopefully our committee will examine how this area can be further enhanced over the next number of years.
“This committee also has the Youth dimension to it and at the beginning of this month I met with representatives of Clare Youth Service to talk about their hopes and aspirations for the Clare youth sector. Whilst my Chairing role will require impartiality, I hope to use the platform which I have now been given by the Taoiseach to raise the profile of quite a number of educational issues in my home county of Clare, and beyond”.
