M J Nolan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and I commend the Deputies who tabled the motion thus affording us backbenchers on the Government side the opportunity to speak to it. It is important to realise that significant progress has been made in the area of education and particularly in primary education since 1997. The pupil-teacher ratio has been a hot potato for many Governments in the past ten years. However, since 1997 the pupil-teacher ratio has reduced. Perhaps it has not reduced as much as many of would like and all Deputies have been lobbied by a number of schools in their constituencies to address the problems of high pupil-teacher ratios. Anybody involved in politics for more than ten years can see the improvements made, not just in primary education but also in secondary and third level education. Huge resources have been invested and I commend all Governments in the past 20 to 25 years for their commitment to education, which has paid off. We have seen the success of that investment in the upturn in the economy since 1987. Without the investment made, going back to the time of Donogh O'Malley, we would not have benefited from the upturn that has occurred.

Since 1997, some 4,000 additional teachers including almost 2,000 resource teachers have been employed. These additional teaching posts have been used to reduce class sizes, tackle educational disadvantage and provide additional resources for children with special needs. On more than one occasion the Minister has outlined the Government's philosophy and thinking on spending. The Government's spending has been focused on the area of disadvantage, about which nobody can complain. The pupil-teacher ratio has also fallen from 22.2:1 in 1996-97 to 17.44:1 in 2003-04. The average class size has been reduced from 26.6 in 1996-97 to 24 in 2003-04. Significantly smaller class sizes have been introduced in disadvantaged schools involved in the Breaking the Cycle programme, with approximately 47,700 pupils in 243 participating schools availing of reduced class sizes of either 15 or 20.

I wish to highlight an issue that is evolving particularly in counties adjacent to Dublin, where we can see the effect of our economic success. Many people are moving out of the city and are purchasing houses in formerly rural areas. Developers have a role to play in this matter. In my constituency developers may be granted planning permission for 100 or 200 houses in a small rural area. The local authorities are providing the infrastructure, including water and sewerage. However, because of the capital investment required for a new school or new classrooms in existing schools, the Department is coming under considerable pressure following the construction of such new developments to provide facilities and teachers. We all know that developers are making significant profits given the strength of our economy. The Minister should consider working with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to oblige developers to construct an additional classroom or two additional classrooms as a requirement of planning permission granted to them. They could well afford to do so. The onus would then be on the Department to provide the teachers. In this way we could provide an integrated plan for many or our small rural villages and towns.

It is widely acknowledged that the Minister, in her role as Minister for Education and Science, is benefiting from her experience as a teacher. The Minister is doing her best with the resources available to her, which are significant when compared with those available ten or 15 years ago. I wish the Minister success in her programme of investment in education, particularly at primary level.

See this speech in context