Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)

Tá mé buíoch seans a bheith agam labhairt ar an bpointe tábhachtach seo. I am grateful for the time, however short, to address this issue. I am well qualified to do so, having been a teacher myself. I am fully aware that the presence of pupils in a classroom to the point of overcrowding can have a negative impact. Thankfully we have a Minister who is absolutely committed to her job and I take this opportunity to commend her. Her absolute commitment is astounding and is evident in the way that funding has been spent in recent times, across the spectrum of education, from buildings, special needs assistants and special resource teachers in schools at all levels.

I am puzzled, to say the least, by the section of the motion tabled by the Opposition parties which refers to the failure to adequately plan for population growth in certain parts of the country. Perhaps this Private Members' motion should have been directed to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, who could, within the planning spectrum, address families. He could ask them, when choosing their house and where to live, how many children they intend to have and in what month of the year they intend to have them. Then a report could be issued to the Departments of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Education and Science so that the kind of forward planning demanded could be done ahead of time. I really do not know what the Opposition was at.

See this speech in context