Mr. Bernard Joyce:

I thank the Deputy and it is good that he allocated a question for each of us. There is the question of whether the cuts were sinister and where the investment should go now. At a time of such need in education and during the past session, there was progress being made in terms of investment and supports, along with having liaison teachers between schools, parents and pupils. There was some investment and approximately 40 visiting teaching services but pretty much overnight, they were gone, with no replacement, plan or strategic approach. There have been other cuts as well.

That was an indictment of the treatment of the community, which had already been left behind for decades within education. It was now at the front line of these cuts. We have not progressed much since that time in terms of those investments. There has not been the same investment in 2021 as there would have been at that time, despite the need and demand created by issues such as early leaving and transfers from primary to post-primary education. People talk about third level but that is only 1% of the total Traveller population. We are not talking about 5% or 10%. It is nothing to take pride in and we want that to become the exception rather than the norm. We want to get to a position where it is normalised for people to get access and opportunities to access third level. This will absolutely not be done, given the lack of investment and budgets currently available.

At present, there is no budget. We could not say what the budget would be because we do not know. There is no dedicated budget in the Department. We can say that if there was investment, there is a need to ramp up the supports that specifically target Traveller children. There must be supports through initiatives. There is a pilot initiative under way but we must ensure that right across the country, in every county, there are supports to work with schools, parents and young people in supporting them getting from primary to post-primary education.

Ms Reilly could probably explore this further but at present, the investment goes to the school. In the case of a DEIS school, for example, the investment goes to the school. We have been seeking for the investment to be in the young person, regardless of what school he or she is in. That is whether the young person is in primary or secondary education. We must invest in their needs and ensure they can be supported. Currently, half of the Traveller children are not in DEIS schools and they may not be getting any support.

That probably answers the Deputy's question. We are seeking ramped-up investment in the budget and a follow-the-child policy when it comes to education.