Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The child of somebody who is well off will have the money to hire a speech therapist and additional teachers to get extra help, including grinds. Maybe if they are well off enough they will be sent to a private school. Other children, however, will not get the educational leg-up they need unless it is provided through the State school system. This is their chance. These children are having difficulty in learning. They are getting a higher degree of attention in these circumstances than they would if they were put into very large primary school classes. We all know the difficulty that imposes on them. These children will be left behind largely because they are poor and their parents are not in a position to pay for private tuition like better off parents who live elsewhere.

The amount of money that is being saved is not huge. I suggest that in the long term the State will end up paying a lot more to pick these children up later on. This is at the primary school stage where they learn to read. If they cannot read they cannot learn. They get the opportunity now but if they fall through the cracks at this stage it will cost more for them to pick up at a later stage. In the long run it will cost the State a lot more also. It is something that can be addressed and it does not involve a huge amount of money. I appreciate what the Taoiseach has had to say about the amount of borrowing but it should not be placed at the door of these children who now require this educational assistance. They should not be left behind.

I ask the Taoiseach to have this issue revisited by the Minister for Education and Science. There is no disgrace or discredit in changing the position on this matter. It is needed and is in the children's interests. It is not going to break the bank, so it should be done.

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