Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

If I were in a rainbow Government now, I would concentrate on the areas that have been omitted in these Estimates by the Department of Education and Science. In some schools up to 50% of pupils have literacy problems. I cannot see anything in the Book of Estimates that will address their problems. It will make no difference to the children who need a service most. With the budget approaching there is still time to focus on those areas of disadvantage to which I have referred.

The percentage of GDP spent on education in Ireland puts us at the bottom of the class in EU or OECD terms. In particular, expenditure on primary and secondary education since 1997 has dropped from 4.7% to 4.1% of our national wealth. That is an indication that education has moved down the list of priorities for the Government when it should be going up because every cent spent on it delivers positive results for society and the economy. At a time when we have so much money there is an onus on the Government to invest resources in the education sector to give all citizens opportunities. According to the Lisbon Agenda, the economy needs a large number of additional skilled workers. Therefore, it is not so much a question of social equality as economic need. It is disappointing that education is not given the treatment it deserves in these times of plenty.

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