Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh na finnéithe go léir go dtí an cruinniú. I welcome in particular Dr. Gene Mehigan from the Marino Institute of Education who was one of my senior lecturers many years ago. It is lovely to see him again. A range of issues have been highlighted and I have been nodding in agreement with all the contributions because I spent 12 years as a teacher, seven of them as a learning support teacher. I can honestly say that there are major issues that must be tackled head on. Investment is needed in education because things have gone radically wrong as a result of the cuts and so on.

It does a complete disservice to a child when he or she cannot access speech or occupational therapy. It is also at odds with the Education Act which states that every child is entitled to a high-quality education. This is a major issue and one with which we in County Offaly and north Tipperary have been struggling for some time. While the position in many areas is just as bad as in Laois-Offaly, it is certainly more pronounced in our particular area. This is unfair on children when we are trying to strive for equality. Education opens doors for children and gives them opportunities. It is unacceptable that children who are already disadvantaged are being placed at greater disadvantage through a failure to provide services. I have raised this issue a number of times because I am passionate about it as a result of personal experience. I hope the problem will be resolved at some stage

Class size is also a major issue for teachers and has a serious impact on pupils. Newly qualified teachers are being asked to differentiate the content of lesson, but this is not achievable in a class of 35 pupils. Teachers are told to set objectives that are achievable, attainable, measurable and specific, but how can we set objectives and honestly differentiate to a high standard when so many children are in the classroom and teachers must engage in crowd control? These issues need to be tackled head on.

Professor Hyland referred to the educational disadvantage, on which I introduced a Bill in March last.