Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputy Ó Ríordáin on his report. As I have said before, it is good that the patrons are at arm's length from school management. I would not welcome their interference in the management of the various aspects of school affairs because that would allow a hard line to be taken on ethos or some other matter. It is just as well that they are at arm's length. A great deal of work has been put into this good report.

I would like to raise a couple of issues. I would not like to be marking one of the people in attendance on the football field because if I gave him one rap, he would give me four back. Ms Áine Lynch raised the issue of money being paid for activities such as swimming and music. I have mixed feelings on the matter. I noticed that Mr. Loftus initially used the term "should not" but he later used the term "must not". It is like the driving test. I wonder whether there is wriggle room in schools. Are there sanctions if charges are imposed? I believe the very small amount paid by pupils for swimming in schools - perhaps €5 per lesson - has saved a great deal of lives. By providing this for a few bob, schools have saved many lives. Many children who otherwise would never have learned to swim have been taught how to swim and how to deal with being in the water. I feel there must be a wee balance in this regard. There is an ideal situation.

There is a practical day-to-day situation in the real world and we must work through that as well. I would not take a hard line on those issues.

As regards school uniforms, there are more jumpers and shirts found in the lost property boxes of schools at the end of the year which, if redistributed, would not have to be bought the following year. I was a school principal for a while and decided there would be no crest on the school uniform. School uniforms are fabulous. They stop fashion shows. School uniforms are good and they are cheaper. Even the dearest school uniform is cheaper than other clothes that children have to wear during the school year. We did not have a school crest and I am proud to say my former school still does not have a crest. It is the only primary school in Louth that does not have a crest. Eventually things come into fashion. At the moment schools are providing a Ferrari for the cost of a Ford Focus because that is all that is available. I have a Ford Focus and that is the reason I mention that. The schools are proving a great education. Fr. Paul Connell said this is Government policy. I believe Government policy in education is good. Although I am a Fine Gael Senator, I believe the Labour Party Minister for Education and Science is doing a hell of a job with the resources available to him and did not increase the pupil-teacher ratio in most schools. He played a blinder at Cabinet level. I do not know how he got away with it. He deferred it and then got it, but it is gone now.

The return of the minor works grants is the best news ever because schools will be able to pay for minor works and will be able to pay the oil bill next year.