Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and take this opportunity to welcome all the visitors in the Visitors' Gallery, particularly those whom I met earlier from St. Louise's school, Ballyfermot. On the first day back after the Christmas break, a time when families traditionally come together, it is appropriate that Members should have a chance to discuss the Government's scurrilous attack on the very fabric of Irish society. This was a stark Christmas for many families who were made face into another year of Government-prescribed austerity in which a myriad of stealth taxes and charges on the horizon have been promised and guaranteed. Virtually all such families have been affected either directly or indirectly by the scourge of unemployment and forced emigration and their children have been forced to leave because of disastrous Government policy. The novelty of using Skype soon gives way to the fact that one's own children must travel halfway around the world simply to afford a decent existence. Moreover, if they have managed to return home for Christmas, they are merely visitors in their own homes. The Government's policy has failed young people. It has failed to deliver either jobs or growth and most of all, it has failed to deliver hope. As all the economists and financial commentators line up to give their assessments and to highlight the need for a second bailout or ten more years of austerity, Deputies from both Sinn Féin and the Government know this is set to continue to fail, despite the protestations to the contrary of the Minister, Deputy Noonan.

The cuts to the DEIS programme announced in the budget deserve particular attention both because of the devastating effect they will have on those children who are covered directly by the scheme and in the broader sense, having an appreciation of the role of education to society as a whole. This State at times has had nothing less than a shameful record on education. Children born into disadvantaged families have always been the ones to bear the brunt. A two-tier education system continues to exist in this State and schemes that went some way towards its redress, such as the DEIS scheme or free third level education, are being hollowed out. It is probably appropriate to remind Members that DEIS stands for delivering equality of opportunity in schools. Although it stands for delivering equality of opportunity to society's youngest and most disadvantaged or most vulnerable, a Labour Party in coalition sees fit to target this scheme. How can its Members do this at a time when the DEIS scheme is more important than ever?

In a climate of high unemployment and increasing rates of poverty, crime rates, mental health issues, suicide rates, substance abuse and strain on people and families, it is incumbent on the Government to show leadership and to show what we as a people stand for. If not through the education of our children, how do we shape the society in which we live? In essence, equality of opportunity is about fairness. It is about giving each child who, through whatever quirk of geography, genetics, environment or circumstances has found him or herself at a disadvantage from an early age, a chance to reach his or her full potential. Cuts to DEIS schools are the definition of unfairness and epitomise the ideological basis on which the Government approached budget 2012. Cuts to DEIS schools in any circumstance are regrettable but when billions, comprising many multiples of the entire education budget, are being pumped into defunct and toxic financial institutions and are used to pay off private speculators in some sort of submissive apology to our paymasters, cuts to DEIS schools are offensive. They should be offensive to all Members of this House. I dare say it disgusts and angers the very people who elected the Labour Party Deputies, a fact of which I am sure the latter are well aware. These changes will mean that many children in these schools will have significantly reduced access to learning and language support. The very children who need the most intensive educational support with regard to literacy and numeracy will be most affected by these budget measures.

I urge all those Labour Party Deputies who spoke out on the issue over the weekend to stand by the strength of their convictions, join their colleagues who did so previously and reject the Government's systematic assault on both the most disadvantaged and most vulnerable in society and on the very fabric of society itself. This Government strategy is the wrong one, as there is a better and fairer way. I ask all Deputies to support the Sinn Féin motion.

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