Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I wish to put the record straight. It is a mistake to think the Government made a promise to reduce class sizes to 20:1 at the last election. It was not during that election but during the 1997 general election that the promise was first made. It was repeated at the last election. The hypocrisy is amazing when one considers the Government did not deliver it in its first five years and made the promise again, which it has still not delivered. People need to be reminded that a ten-year old promise has still not been delivered on.

When the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, was appointed, it was as if it were a badge of honour that she said after several months that it could not be done. She asks what are we all cribbing about. I have some examples of what we are cribbing about.

Class sizes in Cork are the worst with more than 30,000 children in Cork city and county in classes of 30 or more. Overcrowded classrooms are not just bad for the child who needs special attention but also for exceptionally bright children. Overcrowded classrooms mean the teacher simply does not have enough time to give each child the individual attention he or she needs. As Deputy O'Sullivan has said, planning for education is not rocket science. In an area with young couples, it should be known they will have children in five years and schools will be needed then. There is an intervening period to ensure educational facilities are planned and provided.

Last week, I received a telephone call from an angry parent with a child who falls into an unusual category. It is a category that will become less unusual with more women entering the workplace. There was no preschool available for the child in that part of Cork city. The principal of a progressive school in the area decided to set up a class, in which there were 16 children, which she called Just Four. The birthdays of these children fell in June, July and August. In the normal run of affairs, those children would have started school in September when they would be too young. The special class, Just Four, was devoted to preparing those children to enter primary school; the class motto was "Preparing to Learn".

Recently, the principal was informed by the Department of Education and Science that the class's resources were to be stopped. Those children, because they are already enrolled in the school, will have to go into senior infants. They are not old enough for it but it is the only way they can remain in the school. The caring Minister and her officials in the Department are aware of this situation as the principal has been in regular contact with them on this matter. The school is in band 1 of DEIS but does not have an Early Start programme or its Just Four class. The principal has been informed she will receive funding for a preschool on the existing school site. That, however, does not solve the problem of those children who must go into senior infants.

At the other end of the cycle is the leaving certificate. I may be in a minority but I believe the leaving certificate as an examination is very egalitarian as each student is only identified by a number. I was glad that Professor Áine Hyland, despite the former Minister's coaxing, found it was a most equal process. How a child gets to the leaving certificate point can often show where inequality exists. Like the children in the Just Four class, some children will go through school without the facilities found in other areas and will not be in an equal situation going into those types of examinations. That is the type of inequality that must be addressed.

In Cork city, from the gate of St. Vincent's girls' primary school, one could hit the North Mon boys' primary school with a stone. However, one school is in band 1 and the other in band 2 of DEIS. This is despite the fact that siblings attend both schools. The needs and social problems of the area are the same but the two schools are in different categories. It is outrageous but it seems the Department of Education and Science is a law unto itself, doing exactly as it pleases. It can deliberately disadvantage children who need all the support that should be available to them. It can do this by removing them from particular bands and not providing the facilities to give them an equal chance when they come to the end of the educational cycle. The Minister knows this as I have spoken to her on several occasions about it but she will continue to allow this to happen. She will give us reams of statistics concerning the average class size, 500 extra secondary school teachers and so forth. Yet, there are children in classes of 25 and 30 where, regardless of ability, none of them receives the attention he or she needs.

When the Minister tells us about her concerns for education and class sizes, it is by her deeds we shall know her. So far, the Minister's deeds are nothing to write home about. There are areas that require special attention. It is imperative that certain schools have Early Start programmes but they do not. The teachers in those schools are not getting the type of incentive or encouragement they need to encourage children not just to stay in school but to achieve their best potential. They cannot do so because they simply do not have the resources.

It is the teachers who must face the parents, not the Minister for Education and Science or politicians when they knock on doors, and explain their children are in overcrowded classrooms and cannot be taught on an individual basis. That is not right. The Minister can make all the excuses and claim it is up to the boards of management. That typical response from the Department of Education and Science is not true. The allocation of resources is a matter for the Department of Education and Science which, in turn, is a matter for the Minister. It is with the Minister that the buck stops. We pay our Ministers well because they have particular responsibilities. This is probably the one case where I will say that size does matter. The size of a class will determine the attention a child will receive which in turn will determine their prospects. It will have a major impact on all our futures.

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