Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Enright for putting the motion before the House. It gives us a great opportunity to speak on the important issue of discipline in the classroom, which is a vitally important aspect of the education process. Many working within the education system, particularly teachers at the coalface, feel strongly that student behaviour has deteriorated significantly in recent years. The concerns of the education partners are clearly laid out in Dr. Maeve Martin's task force report on student discipline, which makes damning reading. I urge the Minister to publish the report as soon as possible.

In recent years an important array of legislative measures have underpinned the rights of young people in the education setting, notably the Education Act 1998. However, teachers have often been overlooked during this reform process.

The importance of the role of the teacher in society cannot be underestimated. Education has proven to be the single most important component in creating Ireland's current economic success. However, while our economy has grown, our teachers have come under increased pressure in a variety of areas. Pressure is coming from the so-called points race that characterises our education system. Pressure is coming from the fact that what was once a well paid job has fallen behind in recent times and teachers are no longer adequately paid for their Trojan work. Pressure comes from vast legislative changes. The Education Act 1998, the Vocational Education (Amendment) Act 2001 and a host of other new laws have made school life infinitely more complicated, particularly for school principals. Added to all these pressures are the problems created by indiscipline in the classroom.

A changing society means that simply being an adult or a person in authority no longer guarantees respect from young people. While I do not categorise all young people as disrespectful, we must acknowledge that Ireland is experiencing serious social problems regarding the behaviour of some young people. Ten years ago we rarely heard the term "anti-social behaviour" in Ireland. These days we hear it every time we turn on the news and see it referred to every time we open a newspaper. In some areas people feel afraid to leave their houses because of anti-social behaviour. In today's Ireland the classroom is also affected by this disgraceful social phenomenon.

Indiscipline in the classrooms runs from using foul language to threats to teachers, damaging their property or even carrying dangerous weapons in the school environment. These are not problems that can be ignored, as they will only get worse. Indiscipline in schools has many serious consequences. It reduces the performances of students as a whole, thus preventing students from achieving their academic potential, which has consequences for the students personally and is bad for society.

The stress brought about by severe or prolonged student indiscipline forces many fine teachers out of the classroom. Many teachers leaving the profession early cite stress as the reason for early retirement. This also represents a social brain drain of the people who have given a lifetime of work and the country has invested hugely in the education of those teachers. Many potentially excellent teachers do not enter the profession as they have heard too many horror stories about good teachers having a miserable and stressful existence because of indiscipline and being powerless to do anything about it. These factors highlight why it is so important for the Government to demonstrate its commitment to social discipline. If the Government does not publish the final report of the task force on student behaviour and outline its legislative response to tackling school discipline problems, it is showing that it is not concerned with the serious consequences of disruptive behaviour in our schools.

I join my colleagues on this side of the House in calling on the Government to publish the final report of the task force on student behaviour immediately and to outline its legislative response to tackling school discipline problems, paying particular attention to section 29 of the Education Act.

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