John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share time with Deputy Michael Kitt.

I welcome the introduction of this Bill to the House which provides us with an opportunity to speak on it and to make observations on education in general. We live in changing times in terms of education. I come from a county which for many years had a conventional type of education system in the form of primary and secondary schools. In recent years, however, there have been many changes in the area at primary, second and third level. We now have Educate Together schools in Gorey and Wexford town. Proposals have also been submitted for the construction of a new Educate Together school in Enniscorthy. Also, there are gaelscoileanna in four towns in Wexford and a second level gaelscoil. We have a wide variety of educational systems in our county.

A new secondary school due to open in Wexford next year will cater for 1,000 students based in Gorey. Competition in regard to who will get patronage of this school is already under way between the Educate Together community and County Wexford VEC. This has created quite a stir, particularly in Gorey and the area surrounding it. Public meetings have been held and the Tánaiste has set up a body which has been charged with engaging in discussions with the various groups to establish the model of patronage that should be put in place in respect of running the school.

Politicians have been lobbied strongly by County Wexford VEC and the Educate Together movement, both of which are seeking to be appointed as patron for the school. We should consider amalgamating a certain section of the VEC with Educate Together and charge this entity with running the new secondary school in Gorey. What is most important is that the school should be brought into operation as soon as possible. We are indebted to the Tánaiste because from next September she will lease a building in which the initial intake of first year students will be able to commence classes. The new school is due to come on stream by 2013. There is a strong commitment to it.

As the Tánaiste stated, the purpose of the Bill is to facilitate the involvement of the vocational education committees in the provision of primary education for the first time. It also deals with a number of other education-related matters. As she pointed out, the Bill is one of several that are necessary so that we might cater for the changing educational requirements throughout the country.

I have no difficulty with vocational education committees being involved in the provision of primary education, per se. However, I have certain reservations regarding some of the operations of the VECs at present. They have moved away from many of the ideals they pursued when they were first established. In addition, I am not sure whether some of them are operating in the best interests of schools or students. Perhaps the Tánaiste's suggestion that a number of them be amalgamated will bring about a change.

I cannot understand why it is proposed to amalgamate the Wexford and Wicklow VECs. Wexford has a more natural relationship with Carlow and has always had a strong involvement with that county. However, the Tánaiste and her advisers have seen fit to amalgamate the Wexford and Wicklow VECs. Wicklow is a large county and, in Bray, it has an extremely large urban centre. The concern in Wexford is that the centre for the new VEC structure will be based in that town rather than at a location that is equidistant from Dublin and Rosslare. Given the size of the geographical area involved, it would be more suitable to situate the new headquarters in Gorey or at some other point on the border between the two counties. We will leave that argument to another day but I am sure people will have much to say to the Tánaiste in respect of this matter. I have no difficulty with the proposed amalgamation. Under the existing VEC system, there has been too much bureaucracy and administrative waste. There is certainly a need to bring about a change. I welcome that change but I am not overly happy with regard to the amalgamation of the Wexford and Wicklow VECs.

Some of the changes proposed in the Bill are extremely worthwhile. However, I again request that the Tánaiste reconsider the position with regard to the abolition of the educational disadvantage committee. I do not know why this proposed move is taking place.

Under the Bill, responsibility for speech therapy services is to be transferred to the HSE. That organisation has not been very progressive when it comes to the provision of speech therapy or other services required by young people. Serious consideration must be given to this matter on Committee Stage. Disadvantaged status is extremely important for schools. Some of the schools that were previously in the DEIS programme have been removed from it, while others are trying to obtain entry to it. I refer in particular to schools based in large urban centres which are obliged to deal with the problems to which their very location gives rise. The Tánaiste must consider how we will deal with this matter in the future. Students in some schools are not receiving the level of speech therapy they require. Those who rely on the HSE for services in this area are certainly not receiving what they require. Politicians are often obliged to make strong representations on behalf of young children who are expected to wait one or two years or perhaps longer for speech therapy and other services.

The Tánaiste outlined the background to the Bill and referred to the pilot schemes that were launched in three counties. Such a scheme should have been run in a rural area. The areas in counties Dublin, Meath and Kildare in which the pilot schemes were run would not be regarded as rural. It is important that there be a rural bias in the models that are being established.

What is happening in this regard dates back to 2007, when the then Minister, Deputy Hanafin, announced her intention to devise a new model of primary school patronage. The reason behind this move was that some of the Catholic clergy signalled that they wanted to either opt out of or did not want to be as involved in the running of schools in the future. It was important, therefore, that a new patronage structure be established. In light of the many religious denominations that are to be found here following the huge influx of immigrants in recent years, it is only correct that a new model be developed.

The result of this process is that we are now discussing community national schools. Community schools have been operating in the second level sector for many years. There are community schools in Gorey and New Ross and these work reasonably well. I have reservations with regard to the boards of management of such schools, which appear to be a law unto themselves. Problems arose in Gorey in recent years when we tried to encourage the community school there to take in additional students while the new school was coming on stream. The board of management was extremely difficult to deal with in that regard.

It is important that the new boards of management should be widely representative and should, perhaps, contain a strong local bias. In particular, the chairpersons of boards of management should be based locally. In some cases in Wexford, the chairpersons of boards of management were based in Donegal or Dublin. They were certainly based outside the mainstream of educational provision in the county. Will the Tánaiste give serious consideration to the composition of boards of management? I urge her to ensure that at least the chairpersons of these boards should be based locally and should have a direct involvement in educational provision in their areas.

When she is replying to the debate, perhaps the Tánaiste will expand somewhat on the employment of unregistered teachers. I do not have a major difficulty in this regard but when the Bill was published I was contacted by a number of qualified primary school teachers who have serious reservations in respect of this matter. I understand from where the Minister is coming but the matter needs to be teased out further. Perhaps it might be possible to reach some form of agreement with the INTO in respect of how we might deal with this issue. This is a problem which must be tackled, although it must be remembered that there are not as many unregistered teachers as previously.

I accept that there is a bone of contention regarding the practice of retired teachers re-entering the system to cover holiday periods, substitute for those who are on sick leave, and so on. This type of thing is happening at a time when fully qualified teachers cannot obtain employment. This is an extremely sensitive issue.

I welcome the Bill but I have a number of reservations about it. Perhaps the Tánaiste might consider introducing some changes on Committee Stage. I am sure some of the positive ideas that have been put forward by Members on all sides will be taken on board and that, ultimately, we will be left with strong legislation that will cater for the changes that are required in the area of primary education provision.

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