Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

There are now in excess of 20,000 people in schools working solely with pupils with special needs. That includes more than 10,000 special needs assistants, more than 9,000 resource and learning support teachers employed in mainstream schools, 500 teachers in special classes and 1,100 special school teachers.

We have witnessed a significant increase in investment in the schools building programme from €35.17 million in 1996-97 to €222 million in 2011. That is just in primary schools. I acknowledge that there are plenty of school building projects to complete. The school completion rates saw a dramatic expansion of student numbers at third level rising from 100,204 full-time students enrolled in higher education institutions in Ireland in 1997 to approximately 160,000 for 2010-11. That represents an increase in the region of 59%.

We have the highest proportion of graduates among the 25 to 34 age group in the EU. In 1980, some 20% of all 18 year olds went on to higher education.

By 2009, this had risen to 65%, a figure we would all like to see improve over the coming years. There has been a dramatic expansion in the number of training places available. This is critical in the current economic climate.

While acknowledging that a lot of good and necessary work has been done in the education sector over the past decade, we all know work remains to be done in the lifetime of this Administration because we must constantly strive for excellence and continue to transform our education sector to meet current and future needs. It is very appropriate, therefore, that we are debating this motion.

I want to highlight the importance of the smaller school, especially in the context of the current value for money review. The smaller schools are primarily rural but not exclusively so. I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister on this matter and was deeply concerned by the non-committal response. The parents, children and staff attending the smaller schools are living in fear that their schools will be closed simply on a value for money basis and with no effort to take into account the high quality of education available therein, the quality of school buildings, the wider impact on the life of the community, parental wishes and many other factors that are so important. Parents and teachers are very anxious about the length of time the review will take and are worried the Minister has not given any indication of his thoughts on this issue or the criteria on which decisions will be based. He has no predetermined view on the outcome of this review. This is not acceptable to the education partners involved in the smaller schools and they are now living with great uncertainty over the future of their schools. This is leading to schools competing against each other in the fear that, once their number drops below 50, they will be closed. The review must be carried out more quickly than anticipated and outlined by the Minister some weeks ago.

Given our current economic circumstances, it is important to examine ways in which we can improve value for money in all areas of life, and there may be areas in education where resources can be pooled, such as in respect of specialist, clerical and outdoor staff. Facilities can be shared and considerable savings can be made. Everyone would accept this. However, neither my party nor I could support any programme to rationalise smaller schools based simply on a value for money review.

I found myself agreeing with former Taoiseach, John Bruton, this weekend. He quite rightly challenged the Minister of State on his remarks on the teaching of religion in primary schools. While the recent OECD report showing a sharp decline in our literacy results is worrying and needs to be addressed urgently, it is a very simplistic approach to education to infer that this decline in standards is a result of the time given to religious education on the primary school curriculum. Mr. Bruton is right when he says education seeks to prepare children not just for working life but for life as a whole.

I welcome the establishment of the forum on patronage and pluralism in the primary sector. However, the Minister, with his target of having 50% of schools move from the patronage of the Catholic Church, is pre-empting the work of the forum. There is no question the pupil population has become increasingly diverse over the past decade and that there is a need to review the current model of patronage of schools to reflect the richness and diversity of our country today. Schools are very important places and their future requires careful reflection, dialogue and decisions by all parties involved, not just wild target-setting by the Minister, in order that we can have an education system of which we can all be proud.

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