Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

noting,

—the educational needs of children are more difficult to meet in large classes;

—the Government has reneged on the commitment contained in An Agreed Programme for Government that the average size of classes for children under nine would be brought below the international best-practice guideline of 20:1;

—there are more than 100,000 primary pupils and 35,000 second level pupils being taught in classes of 30 or more;

—Ireland has currently the second highest average class size in the EU and that there has been no improvement over the past three years;

—there are significant numbers of graduate teachers who cannot get full-time jobs; and

—additional teachers are also urgently required to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and those from disadvantaged areas;

calls on the Government to:

—set out a timetable for meeting the commitment on class sizes given in An Agreed Programme for Government within the lifetime of this administration and to put in place the steps needed to ensure the recruitment of the additional teachers required and the provision of the extra classrooms required;

—reduce maximum class sizes to 25:1 in mainstream classes, 20:1 in disadvantaged schools and 15:1 in schools where there is chronic disadvantage; and

—sanction the appointment of additional special needs teachers to meet current needs and to implement the terms of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004.

I wish to share time with Deputies Moynihan-Cronin and O'Shea.

See this speech in context