Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach paints a rosy picture of education but that is not the case really in practice. There are some quick points I intend to address. The first is the notion of the whole school community as well as parity of pay for teachers. It is really important that those making up the heartbeat of the school - the secretaries and caretakers - are treated equally. At the moment we know they are on poor pay and have uncertain short-term contracts. They are not deemed to be public servants. This certainly needs to be looked at as does the question of revised contracts for special needs assistants.

Educational inequality and disadvantage need to be addressed in terms of trying to raise the playing field at an educational level for those who are vulnerable, especially those with special needs. Can the Taoiseach comment on the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. It has been in situfor 15 years. When will it be fully implemented? My next question is about the delivering equality of opportunity in schools scheme. While the scheme works for many schools, there are many disadvantaged children in non-DEIS schools. We need to have extra funding for home school liaison resources, school meals, school books and extra programmes.