Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak briefly on the motion tabled by Sinn Féin. I welcome the opportunity to discuss with Sinn Féin a policy-driven issue. It is a wide-ranging and worthwhile motion, which provides an opportunity for a useful debate in this House, if only to highlight the fact that much of what is included in the motion has either been delivered already or is in the process of being delivered.

When I was first elected to the House in 1997, I came from a teaching background, having spent 30 years as a primary teacher. There was no legislative base for primary education since the foundation of the State. We were governed by a raft of circular letters, and much of my time was spent trying to find relevant circular letters. This Government, and the previous Government, put in place a range of legislative measures which underpinned significant investment in education at primary, post-primary and third level education. It went a long way towards the progressive implementation of all our aspirations, particularly in the area of special needs education.

I want to focus on the area of teacher supply. Before coming to that, I compliment the Sinn Féin Party on drawing attention to the report of the task force on autism and the issue of the opening and proper resourcing of the Middletown Centre for Autism in County Armagh. I expect there will be an opportunity to debate these two issues under Committee D's report at the plenary session of the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body meeting in Bundoran. I note Deputy Morgan will attend it and I hope he will have an opportunity to participate in the debate. We can all learn from our experience here and in other parts of the various islands in this part of Europe.

On teacher supply, it is important to reiterate what is proposed in the Government's amendment. There is currently more than 4,000 additional teachers in our primary schools and more than 2,000 in post-primary schools in comparison to 1997. Additional teacher resources have been used to reduce class sizes, tackle educational disadvantage and provide additional support for children with special needs and the Government is committed to reducing further class size. I have no doubt the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, who eloquently outlined the Government's record in her speech last night, will continue to implement all the aims contained in An Agreed Programme for Government. I am also confident they will be substantially, if not completely, implemented by the time the next election comes round. It is important to state that the pupil-teacher ratio has swollen from 22.2:1 in primary schools in 1996-7 to 17.44:1 in 2003-4. I recall a time when it was significantly higher. We should move towards a lower ratio, but it not just a question of mechanically reducing the pupil-teacher ratio; it relates to how one best uses and targets resources and measures outcomes. We have a very dedicated teacher workforce and there is an extensive range of ancillary support services in all primary schools, particularly dealing with areas of disadvantage and in areas of special need.

There has been strong and sustained investment by the Government over the years in this area, which is recognised in the motion. Considerable expertise has been developed among the teaching cohort in dealing with children with special needs. It is not that long ago since there was just one training course for special needs teachers. There were two courses at one stage but some Government closed down one of them. I am not flying the teacher flag, but I want to underline the significant commitment on the part of teachers. Over the years teachers have piloted very innovative projects, whether through youth encounter projects which began in the 1970s, Breaking the Cycle initiatives, Early Start or the integration of children with special needs into mainstream classrooms and mainstream schools. All of this has been carried out by very dedicated teachers.

Much of this expertise is only now becoming policy. I know the Minister is committed to continuing with this. It is not that long ago since there was minimal engagement with the home and families. That is the key to advancing the needs of all children, but it is crucially important in the area of advancing the needs of children with special needs. The materials and resources suitable for children with special needs were not available in this country for a long time. This is an area in which further investment ought to be made. Many of the learning resources available are imported from other jurisdictions, some of which are very appropriate and some of which are not. Curriculum development and development of resources is an area in which teachers could be used much more. It is a pity that greater use is not being made of teacher expertise and experience. Teachers should be allowed opportunities for further study, including getting into the inspectorate, because they would have much to contribute in this area.

The Minister did not touch on one other aspect last night. While the whole school completion programme is yet another pilot project, it has great potential for being mainstreamed. Even though there are just 11 of these projects throughout the country, they are important initiatives whereby children are tracked from their early childhood educational stage right through to transfer from primary to post-primary school. That includes mainstream children, as well as children with special needs. That has huge potential because they can think outside the box, so to speak. We need to be ambitious and courageous enough to acknowledge that it does not always require a teacher to implement many good educational programmes. This is happening in the whole school completion area. Much work is also being done in the areas of music therapy, the integration of children with special needs with children who are very gifted, pre-school breakfast clubs and after school clubs, involving the probation and welfare service, arts based groups and so on. These have a significant role to play.

I support strongly the Minister's amendment. The Government and the Minister are deeply committed to implementing the commitments made in An Agreed Programme for Government, including many commitments which are not included in that programme. There will be a progressive implementation of the aspirations in the recent legislation applied to a very satisfactory level before this Government completes its term of office.

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