Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Sinn Féin fully supports the Labour Party call to double the capitation grant for primary school students. It is plain to see that schools in this State are in financial crisis. From soaring water charges to under-resourced classes and overcrowded classrooms, the lack of investment in education by the Government, most especially in the primary sector, is truly appalling.

Capitation grants are intended to be spent on the day to day running costs of the school, such as heating, cleaning, lighting, maintenance of school premises and grounds and the provision of teaching materials and resources. Payments come in two instalments; the first in January and the second in June. However, very often schools run into considerable debt in the first few months of the academic year because of the fact that January is simply too late to receive that crucial first instalment.

According to the Irish Primary Principals Network, because schools have to get through September to January without State funding, the Government is effectively giving itself an interest-free loan by holding on to the school allocations for four months after the school year begins — the only part of the public service penalised in this way. The IPPN states that the only way schools can avoid debt is by becoming empty boxes and not providing the resources necessary for the modern classroom. With the evolving complex curriculum now offered to students, this is simply unacceptable. The days of chalk filled classrooms and draughty halls are long over. Funding must cover all the needs of modern school life including light, heat, cleaning, insurance, maintenance and all the up to date resources required by today's teaching environment.

It only makes sense that the payment of capitation grants should be made at the beginning of each school year in order to address the needless problems that arise from late payment. According to recent surveys, eight out of ten schools are fund-raising to meet daily running costs. Many schools are finding that Government funding covers only 50% of their basic needs. This situation is absolutely scandalous. Pupils needs come first and teachers must be freed to concentrate on teaching. How are they even to attempt this when they are constantly distracted, trying to stretch an already meagre funding to cover the most basic of running costs? Boards, principals, teachers, parents' associations and local communities are constantly involved in fund-raising. Were it not for the special efforts of teachers and parents, many schools would be in serious financial straits, with pupils losing out. Schools have had to depend on assistance from the trustees and patrons to help clear these debts. A number of primary schools are operating from temporary accommodation not only in prefabricated classrooms on campus, but in sports clubs and community premises off-site. This is completely unacceptable.

I would like to give the House a particular example which Senator Doherty brought to my attention. He told me of a mother of two children attending school in Creeslough, County Donegal. This mother has to pay €2 per week per child for music and PE over 30 weeks of the school year. She must pay €60 for book rental and photocopying for one child in fourth class and €40 for book rental and photocopying for the other child in first class. On top of that, she paid €175.59 for books in a shop in Letterkenny for the two children. All of this comes to a total cost of €395.59. It is not small change. It is a significant commitment for primary education access for two children. That sorry tale is replicated in families the length and breadth of this country.

In this same school children sit three to a desk and in some classes pupils are obliged to sit on the floor. Their class size has been described as unsuitable for many of today's subjects such as practical science. A spokesperson from the school's board of management stated that it is now over three years since they first submitted proposals to the Minister for Education and Science, yet they have heard nothing in return. She said that they urgently need extra space, more classrooms and full upgrading of existing facilities. The school's principal said that she feels it is time to have a total rethink on how children can continue to be taught in such conditions. Both feel that their pleas have been completely ignored and that no progress whatsoever has been achieved. The system has failed this school and other primary schools across the country.

Children have a fundamental right to achieve their full potential through access to the proper curriculum and the highest possible standards of teaching, supported by the most modern teaching aids. Too many children in this State are being denied those rights. No school should have to fund-raise to pay for basic equipment and services which rightfully should be funded by the State. The move to double the capitation grant aims to stop the senseless collections of Tesco tokens and the scrimping and saving and the wasting of time and energy that goes into fund-raising for schools.

The IPPN has described the recent €15 per pupil increase in the capitation grant to €178 as a token gesture. With the increases in water and fuel charges, this increase ultimately amounts to nothing and helps nobody. The capitation grant for primary schools is roughly half that for secondary schools. It would cost approximately €72 million to bring them both into line, which is only 0.75% of the entire primary education budget. Secondary schools are funded to a level double that for primary schools for the same utility bills. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that a child of nine or 15 years of age has different heat, water, security or other requirements. In the interests of basic equality, I urge that primary capitation grants match those of secondary schools.

This motion is timely as it comes after the Minister, Deputy Hanafin disgracefully reneged on the commitment to cut class sizes progressively throughout the lifetime of this Government. The Minister previously argued that class sizes could not be cut as all newly trained teachers were needed for special needs teaching. That argument has since fallen because fully trained teachers will now be let go as a result of the Minister's decision, showing that she never really had a commitment to cut class sizes in the first place. Some schools have as many as 37 pupils in classes. This is indicative of the education system following the health system back to the bad old days of the 1980s.

The Minister's decision must be a major embarrassment to Government Deputies the length and breadth of the State who attended the INTO series of meetings ahead of the general election and gave commitments to cut class sizes. I call on them to join the rest of us in lobbying the Minister and her Cabinet colleagues to secure the reversal of this disastrous decision.

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