Mr. Robert O'Leary:

A question was asked about whether there was joined-up thinking. There is. Mr. Mullan mentioned the digital schools of distinction programme, which rewards good practice, creativity and innovative thinking. By the end of June, it is hoped approximately 250 primary schools will have been awarded this status. That is where there is good practice. I have had the opportunity to travel to primary schools all over Europe, but one does not need to visit them to see best practice. If one was to visit the Irish schools that had been awarded digital schools of distinction status, one would see the most creative and brilliant use of technology that one could wish to see anywhere in the world.

At the weekend I looked at Fine Gael's 2011 manifesto for Government. One of its proposals was for a pilot programme to develop learning lighthouses in a number of schools where students would have been given various pieces of equipment and teachers would have received specialised training. There are now learning lighthouse schools; they are the digital schools of distinction. There is a fantastic opportunity for these schools to be used as lighthouses for the other schools that are rocking back and forth on the seas around them and need guidance. We are more than happy to do this because my school is one of them. This is a ready-made opportunity into which the Department of Education and Skills can buy. Schools are more than happy to help one another. On a fortnightly basis in my school we welcome delegations of teachers from other schools who come to learn how to use technology and see how we do it. We have no problem in doing this; we welcome them. That is one suggestion.

I will address the issue of broadband provision.

In my house where four people live I have a 120 Mbps connection, as I suppose many of us do here. In my school, where I have 300 pupils, I have a 12 Mbps connection. There are times when my pupils are using tablets, a laptop trolley, white boards and all the other pieces of equipment. The children are using them so much, I cannot send an e-mail from my office. I have to wait until later in the day when numeracy and literacy lessons are finished. That is not good enough.