James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to raise a matter of national importance, namely, the threat to the education of the poorest children in the State by the proposed reduction in teaching posts and educational supports for the disadvantaged. There has been no improvement in literacy in this sector since 1980, according to the children's charity, Barnardos. The restricted codes which denote a linguistic impoverishment, combined with economic and resource curtailment, will further enforce the intellectual divide to the detriment of future economic progress in what should be a knowledge-based economy. This is frequently and unrealistically proposed by the Government but will never be realised without an increase in educational attainment across incomes and the social divide and the putting in place of appropriate resources to achieve equity.

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