Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to make a contribution to this debate on class sizes, an issue that is a matter of grave concern for parents, teachers and boards of management. As a Deputy for Dublin North, one of the constituencies within Fingal, I am deeply concerned by the statistics showing that Ireland has the second highest average class size in the EU and that schools in Fingal have the joint second highest average class sizes in Ireland. In effect, our schools and classes are top of the EU league for the wrong reasons. This is unacceptable and not in the interests of the children.

The Government made a commitment to the electorate to reduce class sizes prior to the general election in 2002. In its programme for Government, it gave an undertaking to continue to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio to 20:1 for all children under the age of nine. Three years into the life of this Government, there has been little or no change and the reality within schools bears this out. Information obtained by the Labour Party shows that 13,438 children are being educated in classes of between 20 and 29 students in Fingal. There are 8,302 children being educated in classes of between 30 and 39 students. How would the Minister, in her previous life as a teacher, have envisaged teaching up to 39 students in a class? I await her reply.

One of the schools in my constituency has 13 classes. The average size is 29.5 pupils and eight of the classes have 30 or more children. I fully agree with the teaching staff who wrote to me when they stated that such numbers in classes greatly impact on the progress of all children within the school and that academic studies show the benefits of reduced class sizes. Another school in my constituency, a junior school in this case, has 30 pupils in every class. There are a number of Educate Together schools within my constituency where children in third class have still not received access to learning supports of any description. This is the reality.

In the past, the Minister of State's predecessors have used the shortage of qualified teachers as a justification of the lack of progress. This excuse is no longer valid because, for the first time in many years, qualified primary teachers are available to work and a further 1,600 are set to graduate this year. My constituency is one of the fastest growing areas in the country and its educational situation has reached crisis proportions. In addition to the problem of large class sizes, we have a situation wherein parents are unable to secure school places for their children in Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk. In Balbriggan, for example, parents are unable to secure places for their children who may already be in schools from their previous addresses or who are due to commence school in September 2005. As a result, I have been in contact with parents who have been left with no alternative other than to leave their children with relatives or friends more than 30 miles away between Mondays and Fridays. This is obviously not in the interests of the children or their parents and I want this matter to be addressed.

The Minister for Education and Science gives the usual excuse in response. A new school planning model involving published area development plans is being piloted in five areas over the current school year, including the areas of north Dublin, east County Meath and south County Louth. My concern is that this proposed consultative process will be used as a delaying tactic by the Department, especially in respect of areas where the shortage of education facilities is painfully obvious and well known to the Department.

The Minister said recently that we must never lose sight of the fact that helping all pupils reach their full potential is part of the education system. I fully concur, but the best way to achieve this objective is by reducing class sizes and by producing the interventions required by all our children. By that, the Government will be judged come the next election. Irrespective of the election, we are thinking of the future of our children and the teachers educating them.

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