Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I congratulate the proposers of the motion, Deputy O'Sullivan and Deputy Enright. The motion is timely because we accept education and appreciate its benefits.

By choice, by inclination and by right of birth our children are citizens of the world. Right around the globe young Irish people are making their way and succeeding in every walk of life. As time goes on they will do so more and more while, at home, young Irish people are and will continue to be engaged with global issues, competing at a global level and excelling on the world stage. The world asks them only one question: "What do you know?" It does not ask them whom they know, what their father does, where they went to school or where they come from. They are not in the least bothered about that but want to know what a person knows and what they can do because that is the test. Fortunately, our citizens are doing very well. Today, tomorrow and in the future the answer will depend on education. Every year, approximately 1,000 children fail to make the transition from primary to secondary level and 18% leave secondary school without a leaving certificate. Ireland continues to have significant problems in the area of reading, particularly but not exclusively in disadvantaged areas where up to 30% of primary school children suffer severe literacy problems. This is partly because we provide primary education on the cheap, packing about a quarter of primary school students into classes of 30. Cork city and county have the greatest numbers of pupils in classes of 30 children or more. In addition, schools are often located in dilapidated buildings and are starved of funds for non-pay budgets. These problems will only affect those who succeed in finding a school place for their child.

Ireland also allows massive numbers of houses to be built on greenfield sites with no provision for extra places in schools. However, it appears to come as a complete surprise to the Department of Education and Science that when young couples move into newly built houses, children soon follow.

Class size is important to the many children who leave school unable to read, to the quiet child in a class of 30 who falls behind because the teacher does not notice she is having problems as her demands must be counted among the many of the 29 others in the room, to the troublemaker who hides his learning difficulties by playing the class stand-up comic and to the child who wants to learn but is held back because so many others need the teacher's attention. Class size is not just an abstract numbers game that teachers' unions and Opposition parties play against the Government but a vital issue for thousands of young people who are losing opportunities for their future. It is about the kind of society we are building. The school system is failing many children and giving them a negative experience, self-image and attitude towards the world.

Research has shown consistently that outcomes for young people, especially those who are disadvantaged or have learning difficulties, are much better if they are in small classes. Currently, 100,000 primary pupils are in classes of 30 children or more. A person who walked into an Irish classroom, accident and emergency ward or one of many of our local authority estates could be forgiven for believing this was one of the poorest states in Europe and one which is not addressing its problems because it cannot afford to do so. We know this is not the case. Despite being one of the richest states in Europe, Ireland's public services are among the poorest. The amount of money invested in education as a percentage of gross national product or gross domestic product places this country close to the bottom of the league in Europe and the OECD countries. Expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP has declined from 5.4% in 1994 — the Government has a grá for taking us back to that year — to 4.6% this year, having dipped to 4.1 % in the year 2000 when we had never been richer.

Smaller classes are especially important in areas of disadvantage. The maximum pupil-teacher ratio in such areas should be 20:1 and 15:1 in areas of chronic disadvantage. It is crucial that we achieve these levels if we are to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and lack of opportunity.

While I do not propose to identify a specific area, I will highlight a problem regarding the school completion programme. Of the 82 school completion projects in the State, several are located in Cork city, one of which is among the largest in the country and covers eight schools. The project has three workers dealing with 1,882 pupils in eight participating schools spread over a large geographical area. As regards the measures of disadvantage used for schools participating in the programme, figures show that 67% of pupils in the eight participating schools live in a family where the head of household is unemployment and 68% live in families which hold a medical card. Although they faced a virtually impossible task, the project workers managed quite well until the decision was taken not to increase the project's annual budget. This meant that no increases were forthcoming to cover the costs of wage agreements and benchmarking, with the result that the number of project workers was reduced to two.

I met the principals of five of the schools in question the other morning. These are busy individuals who would not take time off to talk to me unless they were seriously concerned about an issue. They informed me that the project has caused them numerous headaches but they work hard on it because they believe it will be successful, having seen its benefits to the children in their schools. Despite this, the project must be cut back repeatedly because it is receives only a cost of living increase every year and this does not keep pace with the cost of paying the staff they wish to retain.

Class size is also of prime importance to children with special learning needs who are increasingly accommodated in mainstream schools. The early years, in particular, are vital. It has been common for specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia to remain undetected. Smaller classes would make it much easier for teachers to develop a relationship with each child and thus enable him or her to spot the signs of disability at an early date. Smaller class sizes are not the only solution but important programmes such as Breaking the Cycle and the school completion projects are being cut back.

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