Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I welcome the Deputy's comments and his clear knowledge of the scale and extent of the problem. Literacy starts at home. By the time a four year old arrives in junior infants, outcomes in literacy have already been significantly determined by the commitment of parents, no matter what class or socioeconomic group. A child who is not read to when going to bed at night is an abused child. If a home does not cherish literacy, it is a form of abuse. I was the first Deputy to raise concerns that our so called "wonderful" education system was not delivering.

Everyone has a role to play. Deputy Aodhán Ó Riordáin, as a principal of a primary school in the inner city in Dublin was the first to highlight the need for a right to read programme. I will be looking at that not to scapegoat teachers or schools, because we are all failing, as parents, society and families, and we must find a way collectively to deal with the issue. We also need within the fixed timeframe of the school curriculum, at primary level in particular, a return to the basics. We must empower teachers to give time, with parents, who play a key role in this, to this area. A middle class child from a committed family arrives in school at four years of age with a vocabulary that is twice that of a child from a disadvantaged family. The electronic media has reduced the necessity for reading as a form of entertainment so we must get out of this. A working class boy who leaves school at 15 unable to read or write is destined to a future of intermittent employment and possibly crime, and we are all aware of the consequences of that.

See this speech in context