Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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It puts one off. The rankings were published this morning. It is fascinating to note that, notwithstanding the number of private second level school students accessing top colleges on higher point professions, for example, medicine, dentistry and so on, there has been an increase in the number of students from working class schools throughout my constituency. I have in mind schools such as Loreto College in Crumlin. Something like this was unheard of in the past. Some 50% of its students are now entering third level. This is phenomenal and ties with the increase in employment. We have discussed educational attainment as a means of boosting our status.

Has anyone considered family size as an indicator of poverty? Does it contribute? Lone parents are at risk of poverty, but none of the categories refers to family size as a potential measure.

Should any action or sanction be triggered if an indicator reaches a certain level? Following the meeting in Lithuania, it was stated that reaching alarm thresholds should not trigger automatic actions or measures.

Is the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, the appropriate forum for studying and speaking on these issues?