Mr. Seamus Mulconry:

Schools on the periphery of Dublin are coping with expanding demand, but schools in the centre of Dublin are coping with lower pupil numbers and, therefore, income, to maintain older buildings. There is an argument for amalgamation in a number of inner city schools, but in the meantime they face the pressure of maintaining old buildings with less funding. It is a real problem. The communities concerned experience major disadvantage and it may be time to consider putting in place something to assist those schools. I was involved in a policy document a few years ago and we worked out that it cost approximately €69,000 to educate a person to degree level. More money is spent on keeping a person in jail for one year. Many of those in jail have educational difficulties or are not able to read and write, so there is a correlation. Investment in education makes sense.