Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

If the Taoiseach states that 800 teachers are involved in this area, I accept his word, but there is one teacher for every 14 children and two teachers for every 28 pupils, but no more thereafter unless a special case is made. Many schools in different parts of the country, particularly this city, have immensely more than 28 children. In terms of workplace harassment and language training, particularly in English, does the Taoiseach see a role for FÁS? If there is low unemployment, one would have thought that the resources of FÁS would be redirected to play a role in this regard.

Regarding the ESRI report, while the response in respect of the Garda is reasonably positive in general, the response as it relates to immigrants interacting with the immigration service is of concern. Those of us whose job it is to occasionally and not infrequently mediate with the immigration service find it difficult, to put it at its mildest, to get speedy responses or to be assured that the characteristics of different cases are weighed up.

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