Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

The Minister's primary concerns at the beginning of her ministry were the areas of disadvantage and special needs. Has there been a drift away from that focus, particularly when there is much talk about private schools lately and about the third level debate? Has the Minister changed her focus on the areas of disadvantage and special needs?

Does she have any long-term plan for pre-school education, particularly in targeting educational disadvantage because children are turning up in primary schools who are three or four years, and sometimes even five years, behind in literacy and language skills? Does she have a strategy to deal with this issue?

Regarding the healthy eating project we all support, it is sad that children have to come to school in the morning to get a breakfast in a breakfast club in a primary school, although it is a service that is urgently needed. Will the Minister agree that if children constantly eat junk food, it leads to indiscipline in the classroom and, at times, particularly in some schools, more violence in the yard during breaks?

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