James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. It could be regarded as a contingency measure, as it is mainly forced into being as a response to a crisis in education that rocked the sector and has shaken the country as a whole to the core. Whether its provisions have long-term viability remains to be seen. It could be seen as merely adding another layer to an already over-large and formless education cake.

I would not like to see this debate turn into a religious witch-hunt, but rather to focus on it as an opportunity to highlight the community aspect of such legislation. While I am aware that it is essential to crawl before one walks, I see here an opportunity for community cohesion. This could be extended to the realisation of the eventual aim of preschool to leaving certificate students sharing a campus in each town in Ireland. For this to happen the VEC sector needs to be strong enough to bring in primary education. Such a campus would provide an environment where the school community could pursue academic and sporting activities in purpose-built accommodation, sharing valuable resources under the umbrella of the VEC.

In my county of Longford, Gaelscoil Longfoirt has proposed that the recently closed Sean Connolly Barracks would be well suited as school accommodation for the gaelscoil, which is currently overcrowded and has a long waiting list. The proposal further suggests that it would make a fine educational campus, housing more than one school. This is the vision that can reform the education landscape but without funding such aspirations will never become a reality, in particular under the current Government.

However, this Bill is the stepping stone to such an educational utopia. It provides for direct State involvement in the setting up of primary schools with the VECs becoming their patron. Let us make no mistake about the fact that this is the opening salvo in the separation of church and State in the educational sector. It could take us back to the position that existed in 1831 when the Whately commission was instrumental in giving Ireland one of the most progressive non-denominational school systems in Europe. In 1831, a board of education was set up in Ireland under the chairmanship of Archbishop Richard Whately to support and run a State primary school system. This was to prove a far more difficult task for him than chairing the Irish royal commission on poor relief. The goal was to provide a free non-denominational primary education system, in which children of all religions would be educated together in secular subjects, an aspiration championed today by the multi-denominational and project schools. This initiative was doomed to failure. It was deeply resented by all the churches at the time, but proved highly popular with the people. By 1849, approximately 500,000 children were attending the 4,321 national schools. However, the churches gained control and support for their own church-run schools. By the turn of the century, the education system in Ireland was denominational in practice. What we are now looking to is a revitalisation of Bishop Richard Whately's vision.

The VEC website provides details of secondary education, adult education and community education but seems shy when it comes to providing information of what is being heralded as a new era in primary education. It is time for the VEC to put out its stall and keep us informed of its plans. However, with an alarming lack of joined-up thinking, on the eve of the debate on the Bill the Government announced the closure of 17 of the 33 VECs leaving 16 multi-county VECs. This will result in a situation where for the first time in 80 years individual counties will no longer have their own VEC. However, this morning, the Minister stated the aim was to amend and extend the VECs. This seems very strange to me as it goes much further than the McCarthy proposal for a cut to 22 VECs. I would like the Minister to outline the impact this will have on proposals to bring primary patronage under the umbrella of the VEC. The question for many counties now will be what VECs will be closed. A withdrawal of the VEC structure will have a detrimental effect on many communities, especially those in rural Ireland. My county of Longford is one of the counties that is supposed to lose its VEC and this is a cause of anger in the community.

I heard Deputy Conlon praise the CEO of Monaghan VEC and I wish to compliment the new CEO of the VEC in Longford, Rosemary Killian-Johnston, on the fine work she does in co-operation with Councillor Sean Farrell, the chairperson of the VEC. I also pay tribute to Josephine O'Donnell who was CEO of Longford VEC for the previous ten or 12 years and I wish her well in her retirement.

I am puzzled by the Minister's contention that schools will benefit from the rationalisation of supplies and services. I am sure she must agree with me that given the track record of the Department of Education and Skills, this is a load of codswallop - to put it politely. These latest cutbacks are a severe blow to local democracy and another nail in the coffin of Irish education.

With regard to the provisions in the Bill to give unqualified persons the legal right to teach in schools in limited and exceptional circumstances I wish to quote an e-mail from a disgruntled constituent, which sums up the feelings of outrage at this proposal:

I am writing to you to express my deep concern at the Education Amendment Bill which was published recently. I am horrified to read of the intention to amend section 30 of the Teaching Council Act (2001) to enshrine in legislation the facility for people who are not teachers to be employed as teachers and paid as teachers in schools. Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act was what the Teaching Council was supposed to be about. It was to end the ongoing scandal where someone who had nothing more than a Leaving Cert could stand in front of a class and be paid by the taxpayer for "teaching". The excuse always given for this practice in the past was a shortage of suitably qualified teachers which necessitated the "emergency" employment of unqualified personnel. That excuse does not exist now with hundreds of fully qualified teachers seeking work. This was the ideal moment to commence Section 30, not to amend it.

This correspondence sums up the outrage and disbelief of those involved in the educational sector as they see thousands of fully qualified and registered teachers who are unemployed. We all have them in our parishes and communities. Unfortunately many of them have to take planes and boats to places such as Canada and Australia to seek alternative employment.

The fact that the Government has seen fit to publish this Bill against the backdrop of widespread teacher unemployment is nothing short of an insult. There is no other profession where this would be tolerated and anyone who supports this section of the Bill and continues to talk about developing a knowledge economy is either stupid or hypocritical. Again we see the lack of joined-up thinking and basic logic of the Government. Has it escaped the Minister's notice that we are in a time of high unemployment, with 452,000 on the live register? Now is the time to protect teacher employment, not to undermine it. I request her to reconsider this retrograde step. Surprisingly, I had support from my constituency colleague, Deputy Mary O'Rourke, on this issue. It is beyond belief that any circumstances could possibly arise whereby an unqualified person could or should be paid to replace a teacher, given the high level of unemployment in the sector. It is self-evident that non-teachers should not be employed when highly trained personnel are available. There is also the question of the protection of children, which must be to the forefront of all our minds. Such a move calls into question the Minister's own qualifications for her portfolio.

I fully support the 2007 announcement by the then Minister for Education and Science, the idealistic aspirations of which included devising a new State model of community national schools. However, the political landscape has changed in the interim and my fear now is that primary schools, which are a vital component of the education sector, will fall between two stools and funding will be further eroded.

At this point I will let in my colleague, Deputy Enright. I am sure she will have more to say on this subject.

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